Toyin Abraham’s ‘I Am Not a Criminal’ tackles cybercrime but lacks cinematic depth

Cast: Toyin Abraham, Rauf Racheal, Olumide Oworu, Ilebaye Odiniya, Oduah Ernest, Toyosi Noah, Bukky Majek, Dapo Martins, Oyefade İyanuoluwa, Salami Bisola, Tomiwa Tegbe, Adewunmi Samuel, Okeke Mobi, Awan Samuel, Temitope Sodiq, Precious Okeme, Sunday Magret

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Director: Toyin Abraham

Run time: 41 minutes

Streaming Platform: YouTube

In today’s fast-paced world of easy access to information enabled by the internet, there is an unprecedented landscape of opportunities.

This gave rise to gigs like Influencer Marketing, Content Creation, Brand Ambassadorship and more.

While the digital revolution is being celebrated, it has also introduced significant challenges, such as the spread of misinformation, cyberbullying, online scams, addiction to social media and online activities, and a threat to privacy, among others.

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This set the premise for Toyin Abraham’s latest production, ‘I Am Not A Criminal’.

Review

‘I Am Not A Criminal’ follows the lives of two young women, Nova (Rauf Racheal) and Bella (Ilebaye Odiniya), living the best of their Gen Z era.

Both influencers are doing well in their fields, bagging brand deals and enjoying a healthy fan base.

Nova’s boyfriend, Remi (Olumide Oworu), also has it good as a cybersecurity expert.

Along came Danny, a mysterious character, a Nigerian based in the United States.

Danny tells Nova the usual sob story. His parents were killed by their relatives, and his mother’s friend had to smuggle him out of the country to the US.

Now he’s back to invest and wants to buy property in Nigeria. He would like Nova to help him out.

As the transactions start and money flows in and out of her account, the heavy boots show up at Nova’s door to arrest her for internet fraud and money laundering.

Review

‘I Am Not A Criminal’ is a movie every Nigerian should see. The film tackles some of the issues that internet users in the country face, sometimes unknowingly.

Only recently, Singer Paul Okoye of the defunct PSquare group was accused of rape by an X user who said she did it for ‘cruise’. Reports say she has fled the country, fearing the consequences of her actions.

In addition to issues like cyberbullying, the movie provides a template on how users should conduct transactions on the internet.

To help a fan out, Nova unwittingly sends screenshots of her signature to Danny.

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This signature was then used to defraud other people, and the money was funnelled through her bank accounts, painting her in the eyes of the law as the typical ‘picker’.

Besides serving as cybersecurity 101, ‘I Am Not A Criminal’ is a lecture on personal relationships.

If Nova had not been so love-struck, she might have suspected that Remi and Danny were probably the same person.

In this digital age, many Nigerians know that fraudsters now masquerade themselves as cybersecurity experts, forex traders or any other tech-related term that catches people’s fancy.

Unfortunately, despite attempting to address weighty issues that plague society, the film’s producers appear not to have given much thought or committed resources to the project.

In general, ‘I Am Not a Criminal’ is a simplistic take on the dark side of Nigeria’s digital hustle.

Verdict: 5/10