I’ll be honest – when I saw that “Out in the Darkness” was about postpartum depression, I was skeptical about the drama. But director Sarah Kwaji has crafted something genuinely powerful here, and Kehinde Bankole delivers one of the rawest performances I’ve seen in Nigerian cinema this year.
The Plot
The movie follows Bolu, a new mother drowning in postpartum darkness. With vivid hallucinations pulling her deeper, she’s dismissed by doctors and silenced by stigma. This isn’t your typical “woman has baby blues” story – this is about serious postpartum psychosis, and the film doesn’t shy away from how terrifying that can be.
Kehinde Bankole is Incredible
Bankole has opened up about the emotional weight of portraying a mother battling postpartum depression and psychosis, and you can feel that weight in every scene. She doesn’t just act like someone with postpartum depression – she becomes it. The way she captures those moments when reality slips is genuinely unsettling, but so authentic.
Deyemi Okanlawon plays her husband, and their dynamic works because he’s not the typical clueless Nigerian husband. He’s trying, he’s scared, and he’s out of his depth, which feels real.
What Makes It Different
What I love about this movie is that it doesn’t try to fix everything with prayer or traditional remedies. The film exposes the raw battles of maternal mental illness in Nigeria and shows how the medical system fails women, how stigma silences them, and how dangerous that combination can be.
Director Sarah Kwaji did her homework. This isn’t sensationalized – it’s a careful, respectful look at something that affects so many women but gets swept under the rug.
Final Thoughts
“Out in the Darkness” is the kind of Nollywood movie that makes you proud of the industry. It tackles a serious subject with maturity and has something important to say. Kehinde Bankole deserves all the awards for this one.
If you’ve been waiting for Nigerian cinema to handle mental health with the seriousness it deserves, this is your movie. Just be prepared – it’s not an easy watch, but it’s a necessary one.
Rating: 4/5 stars
