From the mind of co-producers Linda Ikeji and Dami Dawson, and director Bryan Dike, Reverse opens with the kind of upbeat chaos that would almost convince you you’re watching comedy. First, from the drama: a happy family, then there’s Instagram Live, sisterly banter, a late errand, and then everything moves like it’s playing for laughs. But this film is smarter than that. What seems like poor time management spirals into a full-blown moral collapse.

It’s about selfishness, negligence, and karma—one that doesn’t knock. It slaps. And even though the journey is frustrating, Reverse manages to leave its mark. If only it stopped talking when it had said enough.

When Comedy Walks Into Chaos

Ifeoma Hart (Hilda Dokubo), a working mother, preparing to head out. She asks her first daughter Edna (Ruby Precious Okezie), a social media influencer, to run an errand. Edna agrees. But after Ifeoma leaves, her boyfriend shows up. She’d rather be alone with him, so she lies—telling her younger sister Rita (Susan Pwajok) that their mum wants her to go instead. Rita, unknowingly, walks into a disaster.

This first half plays as a fun comedy with the visuals equally supporting it. The story is pile up with delays, and it’s for a good reason. And while some of it is genuinely funny, it goes on far too long. What happens after Rita gets into trouble feels like a familiar dream. You have an 8 am exam, but for some reason your dad can’t find his socks by 10 am! The film plays on this tension, making the viewer feel trapped in a slow-burning farce. This can either frustrate you even while it’s interestingly comedic.

When the Joke Isn’t a Joke Anymore

Then comes the shift. A major event. The film rewinds—literally. It walks us back through the chain of events, showing how Rita’s misfortune is a product of selfishness and carelessness. Suddenly, what felt like senseless delays and errors begin to carry moral weight. And Reverse makes its point very clear: when you treat others with disregard, your own cries will fall on deaf ears.

The most damning revelation comes from Ifeoma herself. The same woman who asked her daughter to run an errand turns out to be a hospital administrator who refuses to treat patients without deposits. Even in emergencies. The irony hits hard. She ignored others’ pain, and now, when she needs help, no one moves. As one character puts it, “people will not attend to you.” It lands. The film mirrors the very wickedness it warns against.

Faces We Know, Roles That Matter

Hilda Dokubo handles her role with calculated restraint. She convinces us twice—first as a warm mother, then as a stone-hearted bureaucrat. It’s this duality that gives the film its weight. Susan Pwajok’s Rita is the emotional spine. You feel her frustration and panic. Ruby Precious Okezie leans fully into Edna’s selfishness, and it works.

The supporting cast—Kalu Ikeagwu (Uncle Jerome), Antar Laniyan, Yvonne Jegede, Chikamna RC—all play functional roles in the spiral. They’re present, but the weight lies with the three women.

Technical Choices That Stretch the Nerve

Well, of course. The film is called Reverse. So, what do we expect?

This film has too many reversals. At least twice, full scenes are rewatched just to restate a point. And the editing doesn’t trust us. Everything is over-explained. Convenient delays like Ifeoma leaving her phone behind at night in a dangerous area, which exist only to stall help and stretch tension. The moment Uncle Jerome calls, no one’s around to pick the phone. A minute saved would’ve made the difference, but the film wants us to sit in that disaster for much longer than we should.

Some scenes are designed to draw empathy through repetition and delay, but they start to feel manipulative. And when the film should wrap, it introduces even more characters, more drama, more moral shouting. The message was already clear immediately after after one instance where Ifeoma’s duality is exposed.

Final Thoughts

Reverse is built on a strong idea. The descent from comedy to consequence is one of its most powerful moves. It’s not tone-deaf. It knows exactly when to shift gears. But it doesn’t know when to stop. The film exhausts the audience with repeated warnings, extra scenes, and forced emotion. The premise is smart. The execution, unfortunately, doesn’t trust its own strength.

Verdict

A brilliant message buried under too much tension and delays. The experience can feel a bit stressful in both a good and bad way. If Reverse ended when it should have, it would’ve hit harder.

Rating: 3/5