The Story⚡
African Magic premiered an Original Contemporary Nigerian Series, The Hidden on the 28th of May 2023.
Flo – Ireti Doyle
Of all the residents of the house, Flo is the most grounded, the anchor that holds them all together. She’s measured, calm and deliberate. She’s battled most of her demons and won. She accepts that while she cannot alter the past, she can help shape the future. If not for herself then for someone else.
She is an empath, with healthy boundaries. She recognizes the wounds in her residents and tries to help them heal. And yes, to some extent the residents do fill a void. Hauwa is the daughter she lost perhaps… Kweku knows her intimately and has seen her at some of her weakest moments. They have a bond no doubt, one that could cross the line in an unguarded moment of weakness. She won’t let that happen… but they love each other in their own peculiar way and have each other’s back without question. She trusts him with her life. She is kind, compassionate, generous, and deeply spiritual. She loves music and loves to dance. Yet at the core of this is a ruthlessness like a sharp razor concealed in a suede glove. When necessary, she will shut down those emotions and operate cold as ice slicing through anything that threatens the world she has created it will not happen again. She is deeply spiritual and believes nothing is a coincidence. Her flaw? She’s still looking for redemption, still doing penance, still mourning, and trying to put back the family she lost.
Kweku – Bucci Franklin
At the core of Kweku is deep shame and self-loathing. Having squandered his modest family’s meagre resources, and fallen deep into a life of violence and crime, he barely made it out with his life, and even now, not entirely so. There is also guilt born out of his inability to save his girlfriend who was murdered right before his eyes while they were trying to escape. Every resident is his dead girlfriend incarnate; he would take a bullet before he lets anything happen to anyone who lives under this roof. Flo is the balm to his wound, the one person he believes knows his flaws and all; and accepts him that way. His relationship with her is complex, she is a mother figure no doubt, but at the same time there’s no denying there’s something sensual between them. As his past crashes in, is his future broken beyond repair or …?
Leila – Rachel Emem Isaac
Beautiful Leila arrives in a maelstrom of expensive gear and high-end designer wear snooping, questioning, and setting everyone on edge! Leila has her own agenda! Her time in the house, especially her skirmishes with Ireti “not her real cause her mask to slip from time to time. Who is Leila and why is her presence so disruptive? Whether or not we see what’s behind the mask.
Oyinye – Misi Molu
All her life, before coming to Nigeria, Oyinye existed in a universe where people say what they mean and mean what they say. Within 48 hours of her arrival, she must rethink everything she thinks she knows about humanity. In 2 days, she goes from being a grieving widow, slightly anxious at the prospect of meeting her late husband’s family (who had been painted as so loving) to a kidnap victim, her kids taken away, held hostage by an ugly vestige of tradition and culture that allows wickedness to thrive. Oyinye goes from feeling hopeful and expectant, to shock, fear, and despair. The only ray of hope are the women who helped her escape and of course, Flo. Her time in the house will be the shortest and through her interactions with the other women and Flo’s extensive network cutting across the judiciary, law enforcement, and even the underworld, she regains her confidence in herself and restores her belief in the basic good of humanity, while battling to save her children.
Hauwa – Victorial Daniels
In the opening episodes, Hauwa is feisty, outspoken, and strong in her convictions. The champion of the underdog. She believes what she believes and holds everyone to high standards especially herself. Having escaped a planned marriage to a man nearly 3 times her age, she prides herself on her ability to redesign her world/life and believes anyone can do the same if they truly want to.
Finding out that Temisan is not exactly who she claims to be, causes her to go into a tailspin. She becomes belligerent, judgemental, antagonistic, and condescending. As Temisan’s true story unfolds, Hauwa’s brothers show up and the past she believed she had escaped crashes into her present, she has to rethink everything she thought she knew about choices and circumstances. She gains wisdom and insight and realises there’s far more grey than black and white and that there is no “activism” without compassion.
Temisan – Evelyn John
Temisan starts out timid. All her life she has been conditioned not to question “authority”. Not her parents or teachers, and certainly not the church. Her belief system essentially is that any circumstance that befalls her is her lot in life and well deserved including being repeatedly raped by the man she called Father, and is to be endured in stoic silence. Birthing a child, however, forces her into a position where she has to think and take responsibility if not for herself, then for her baby. It occurs to her (regardless of circumstance) that just like her, this child did not ask to be born, therefore it is up to the people who birth them (in this instance her) to look out for them. Nobody ever looked out for her; that will not be the fate of this baby.
In the house she maintains her timidity, walking on eggshells and maintaining her people-pleasing ways. Hauwa’s antagonism however is one straw too many, and for the first time in her life, she pushes back inflamed by the injustice of it all. Her time in the house and through the ministrations of the other women especially Flo, affords her the opportunity to find her voice, think for herself and take decisions…strong enough to finally confront her abuser.
How To Watch Unhidden
Tune in to #AMTheHidden every Sunday night on @dstvnigeria #AMShowcase Ch. 151 at 8:30 pm WAT.
