Voice In The Room

Sochi's landlord gives her a month to move, and she and her son Jide settle into a cramped back room on a quiet compound. The stern landlady bans noise, visitors, and any approach to the main house. With no money, Sochi leaves Jide alone during job interviews, and the landlady harshly criticizes her parenting, warning about kidnapping and fire. Jide discovers a barred window where a disheveled man named Obinna is confined. The boy brings biscuits, sings nursery rhymes, and touches fingers through the bars, and Obinna, who suffers from drug-induced schizophrenia, starts to respond and smile. The landlady notices the change and tells her nurse that Obinna no longer needs sedation, but she remains severe with Jide. Sochi, stressed by unpaid bills and strange noises at night, warns Jide away, but Jide insists Obinna is harmless. The crisis hits when Sochi, after a heated argument with the landlady, runs out and finds the gate open and Obinna escaped. In the panic, Jide falls from the window and is rushed to the hospital with a head injury. A doctor says Jide needs surgery costing ten million naira, and Sochi cannot pay. The landlady covers the bills, then reveals that Obinna is her only child, who confessed to raping a maid in November 2014. Sochi realizes Obinna is the man who assaulted her and that Jide is his son. She curses Obinna and rejects the help, but her friend Kate persuades her to accept the money so Jide can live. Jide's surgery succeeds, and he recovers slowly. Obinna, remorseful, reconnects with his son, and Jide keeps singing and feeding him. The landlady transfers her properties into Jidenna's name and sets up a trust fund, so Sochi can go back to school or start a business. She thanks Sochi for forgiving her and her son. Sochi accepts the apology.