93 Days (2016) User Reviews

Pandemic Legacy

[Minnesota_Reid · 5/10 · 22 April 2017]

This movie focuses on the local medical response to the arrival of Ebola in Lagos, Nigeria, and the effort to contain it before it got a terrifying new foothold. Early on, this was in the face of political pressure, since patient zero was a foreign diplomat who demanded to be let out of the hospital. Later on, it was in the face of a justifiably terrified populace and hospital staff, a number of whom became infected.

But it is not a complete picture. Nigeria made major efforts on the border to keep Ebola out. Not mentioned. An aide to patient zero was exhibiting symptoms, and left. What happened to him? Not mentioned.

If you are interested in the topic, as I am, the movie is worth seeing. But if you judge it solely as a movie, there are a lot of problems with pacing and tone. The soundtrack was poorly mixed, often overwhelming the words being spoken. And while Nigeria and the world owes a lot to these doctors, the movie descends into hagiography.

The movie has a nice role for the American actor Danny Glover.

Realistic but slow pacing and very melodramatic.

[adrianjgomez-11883 · 7/10 · 17 October 2019]

Good acting, based on true events and a decent story. The pacing was a little too slow for my liking and some scenes feel like a made-for-tv movie (the cheese music and the over dramatization).

Overall watchable if you know what you are getting into ahead of time.

In an age of COVID-19, there is still worse. Fascinating Movie.

[vastrida · 7/10 · 29 March 2020]

While you're off sheltering in place, staying at home, freaking out about dying from a virus-- watching this movie will impress you in two ways; 1. It's much scarier than what we are currently living through, 2. The Nigerian response to the calamity is actually fairly sane. Of course--- the movie is a form of national PR for Nigeria, but its also interesting to watch for that reason. I don't think I've seen a Nigerian film that exposed the scenery of Lagos this well, which showed the societal highs and lows of the city, at the same time as it slowly unwound its story. It's not a fast paced movie, and it's not an easy subject, you may wanna watch it in one or two segments.

I'd say: worth watching!

[hz2961 · 7/10 · 24 May 2020]

Well made, well played, good actors, even though it might seem a bit slow at times (and over 2 hrs altogether), I still think it is worth watching anytime. Of course, it is not the brightest and happiest movie to watch during these corona and pandemic times...

but I liked it.

A great tribute to the medical staff

[forsurenot · 21 March 2020]

I just finished watching movie, during the rising of COVIT-19 pandemic. What the medical team at had gone through is happening everywhere in the world. The movie showed me what is really like in the time of crisis in their lives and not just statistical numbers of how many more infected in the news. I appreciate this movie and even more, I appreciate all the doctors and nurses in the world for their noble and humble work ethics, risking their lives to save ours.

Interesting but...

[tattaglia2001 · 7/10 · 18 January 2020]

It was too much melodramatic, but I enjoyed it. On the other hand this is a great tribute to all the medical staff who where at the epicenter of the crisis.

Unexpected and Delivers

[sharon-campone-evans · 6/10 · 1 February 2020]

I love a virus movie. And this one, I googled to see if it was 'based on true events'

Danny Glover adds the Hollywood collateral (o now don't know if his American accent or his African accent is real'

Anyway - no spoilers - a great virus film, with one foot in the 'did this happen'

I don't know these African actors, but I like them. A lot.

What happens in ... stays in(?)

[kosmasp · 5/10 · 15 January 2020]

Some things are almost too scary to imagine to be true. In this case this is based on a true story. This is quite draining to watch. It is not the best movie but it has a really strong source material. Still not for people who have issues with real life drama.

A documentary might have served the better plattform and more context, but as it is, it can and will work with some viewers too. Are you one of them?

One of Nollywood's Best Movies Thus Far

[omar-alikaj · 10/10 · 20 September 2016]

As a half-Nigerian, I'd grown up with Nollywood movies, and majority of them, with an exception to one alien-themed budget film, were terrible. From the previous decade, Nollywood movies, at least those I saw on local channels and "Africa Magic", are of three varieties: Wrath and fall of backstabbers... with a bit of Missionary help by the climaxes, village-themed, and comedic movies featuring the same two dwarf actors... which includes Osita Iheme. As you might realize, due to the same Nollywood formulas over and over, I really got sick of watching Nigerian movies altogether.

But then, "October 1", and this movie, "93 Days", along with trailers for older movies, surprised me, and didn't. I was surprised that Nollywood movies started to feel world-class, to the point of competing with foreign films. On the other hand, I wasn't surprised because I knew we could do it. It even showed on our music industries years back.

This movie was well-directed and written to the point that I started sympathizing with the Ebola victims being portrayed. The transition from scene to scene felt world-class and, plot-wise, well-connected and well-referenced. The acting were excellent, even typically West African, from the Liberian patient to the cab driver. I also liked the quick information, in the Washington D.C setting, that Lagos being a major travel hub could put many countries at risk with Ebola.

And, unlike the typical Nollywood classics I dreaded so much, which ended in the climax, and offering no resolutions, "93 Days" has a really good resolution. I won't spoil it for anyone, since it's a new movie, but I can say that you must not miss this film. Even get it on Blu-ray or DVD if you must. (Also don't miss the extra scenes, and the photos of the real people the movie portray, in the credits.)

Intense and not for everyone but beautiful regardless

[amytudorin · 6/10 · 4 January 2020]

This movie follow the story of an outbreak of ebola in Nigeria and a group of doctors' attempt to contain it. What I particularly liked about this movie was the way the characters were introduced before the virus spread and the story really began. When I watched it, the doctors weren't just doctors, they had lives and families and it made it harder to watch. Not going to lie, it's a slow movie but that's because it was the only way to show that tension and fear that the patients felt while in quarantine. Again, this movie is not for everyone but I would recommend it. The acting is also pretty good.

Bad

[mrlungile · 2/10 · 13 March 2020]

I cannot believe the people who are giving this movie any high praise. The acting is terrible and they try and hide that by putting melodramatic music. The attention to detail is clearly missing, like when the woman doctor gave Danny Glover the results of the first ebola case, you could clearly see that the paper had a one or two words written on it, and that cannot be a medical paper given amoung doctors, and I'm not even a doctor but I know this. So many times I wanted to stop but I carried on watching just because it is meant tot be based on a true story and I really wanted to know what actually happened. That's the saving grace. Otherwise If it was just any other fiction film, I would not have even gone a quarter way. 2 stars is for the quality camera work. Only.

Nurse's opinion

[Kaygee906 · 9/10 · 24 October 2019]

I'm a nurse in the USA and what stood out to me the most about this film was how humble and humane the doctors and medical staff were even though they were terrified of contracting ebola. They still treated their patients and one another with kindness and humility and supported one another emotionally. I thought this was an excellent film and the actors and actresses did an excellent job.

Not a good film, but half decent

[siderite · 6/10 · 10 May 2020]

The movie has that feel Christian movies have: lots of people praying, religious music in the soundtrack, cloying speeches, focusing on the goodness of people rather than on their job or the technical aspects of a viral infection and a famous but has-been actor, in this case Danny Glover, who really has just a few scenes in the film. And it is two hours long! So I can't recommend it.

However, considering it is a Nigerian movie and the acting was decent and the story based on real events and so relevant these days, It is not a bad film. It is worth understanding the large difference between Covid and Ebola. Where one is spreading like wildfire in people and in the media, the other was so deadly that medical personnel, ambulance and taxi drivers would not go near a sick person. Where one is taken by just breathing, the other requires physical contact. The commonality is indeed in how people react to the virus, doctors, regular people, politicians.

Bottom line: at least with better editing, this could have been a better and much shorter film. It teaches little and if you want a non-American film about a viral inspection I recommend the Indian one from 2019: Virus, rather than this.

Made for tv melodrama

[somefoolishgirl · 2/10 · 6 January 2020]

I watched this movie without knowing anything about it beforehand. This movie is about the Ebola outbreak of 2014. I appreciate it is a serious subject and should be treated seriously, however, it was so overdone! The script, the acting, the music, it was all "made for TV". It was so cheesy at certain parts that it was hard to continue watching. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

It's good if you enjoy the subject

[foxtrotmarie · 7/10 · 24 October 2019]

If this is a subject you like then it's a decent movie.

But it is extremely subdued and slow. The movie makes it worse and often is as loud as the speaking.

Definitely not a great movie, but watchable enough

[royhectorkabanlit · 6/10 · 28 November 2019]

This is a Nigerian production, pacing is a bit slow, it's almost as if the entire movie is 93 days long, LOL. Some Actors and Actresses are not so good at acting and the Production Values sometimes look amateurish. But overall it still makes for a somewhat decent Medical Thriller.

Nollywood docudrama Ebola story

[skepticskeptical · 6/10 · 27 August 2020]

93 Days is not a great film by any stretch of the imagination. Filled with schmalz, histrionics and melodramatic music, the production seems similar to a Lifetime television movie to me. Turns out that it is a Nigerian film, my first Nollywood! Given that the plot is based on a true story, how a team of medical professionals managed to contain a small outbreak of Ebola in Lagos before it ravaged the entire country, I think that the sentimentality can be forgiven. This is really a tribute piece more than a film.

The most convincing parts of the production are the scenes of patients confronting the deadly disease in the make-shift hospital where some of them did finally succumb. I was even starting to think that this was a pretty good film, but then the ending was so overwrought that I changed my mind. Still, there is enough good to make 93 Days worth watching for those who have a personal interest in pandemics, as we all do these days, thanks to government restrictions imposed to combat Covid-19.

Note, however, that Covid-19 is more like the flu than a pandemic, statistically speaking. Ebola killed 9/10 people it infected. Covid-19 kills .5% (one-half of one percent). That is a huge difference, and similar to the lethality of the seasonal flu. Perhaps policymakers have watched too many pandemic movies?

Terrible and amateur attempt at a film

[nycscott1 · 1/10 · 26 December 2019]

I don't understand the praise for this but it must be friends and relatives of the people that made the movie . Seems like someone's school project more than a real film . Terrible acting and production value .

Good little movie, not great, but good :)

[mike_olley · 8/10 · 17 February 2020]

Some powerful performances by the Nollywood actors. Danny Glover offers penetrating rays of sunlight to all his scenes (as you would expect).

Got some beat and base but goes dry now and then, however neat film. Pass the evening well with this melodrama and a bag of popcorn.

BAD WIG RATING - a clear 10/10 for bad wigs. No shame in this area. Hardly a realistic head of hair on display.

Very slow paced

[chris-b-welch · 6/10 · 5 April 2024]

I feel that there's probably 30 minutes of extra footage that could be cut from this to help it flow better. Also Danny Glover's accent is appalling! That said this is a tribute to the medical teams who were on the frontline when this happened, which kept me engaged somewhat. The film just felt like it was moving too slowly and lacked something. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't great. I wouldn't recommend it unless someone was really interested in the subject matter. It was a movie that covered an important event in recent world history that sadly fell way short. The writing was just flat and factual.

What happened to attention to detail

[postell-lisa · 3/10 · 28 December 2020]

Lack of attention to detail is horrible in this movie. A patient magically appears in a room that was empty. Patients who have nausea and vomiting , but you don't give them a IV? Patients show up with no clothes, wear the same clothes for days then have new clothes. Let's not mention that from the beginning of the movie they suspected the patient had Ebola, but no one was wearing a mask or even gloves. Even with somebody with a common cold you would wear gloves. A person does not have on shoes then they do in the same scene. I could go on and on, but you get the gist

Beautiful, beautiful, sad and necessary...

[RosanaBotafogo · 9/10 · 12 October 2021]

That politically correct, socially critical film based on real facts we love, the hospital director who chooses to hire pregnant doctors/mothers... A beautiful tribute to Ameyo Adadevoh, who saved countless lives by quarantining a big shot, and the hypotheses of an American conspiracy (not mentioned in the film), beautiful, beautiful, sad and necessary... #VivaOsDoctors #VivaOSUS... It was already said that Danny Glover looked like him, until he found out that he "was" himself... What helps give visibility and even credibility to a great film, which portrays such a current theme, a pandemic threat...

The unseen side of pandemics

[Gigantoscula · 7/10 · 31 October 2023]

It's easy to go past what the doctors have to go through when it comes to viruses and pandemics. I'm not part of the crew, however, this movie proved that it's tough working in med while an outbreak is going on.

Even if this wasn't true, it still gives you the feeling that it's exactly what's supposed to happen in the depicted events.

I'm glad they gave 2 hours of runtime for this, as they needed a lot of time to develop the story. It's structured as a movie but has a distinct documentary feel but without pauses and explanations.

It's great, moving at times, but I feel like there's something off about this movie. Towards the end my interest was about to be lost just before the movie ended. There were too many moments of nothingness throughout the movie, especially during the ward scenes.

I'm glad this showed how big but not developed regions deal with those kind of situations. We had enough pandemic movies affecting the globe but only showing Tokyo, Paris, New York and other big cities around the globe. This is a decent effort to cover a smaller nation that could face a lot of problems due to the corruption of the higher powers.

A decent watch, 7/10.

expected much more

[kabirsingh-11332 · 2/10 · 25 March 2020]

This movie could have been great. Lacked attention to detail. The makeshift hospital was laughable. No change of clothes. No nurses. Hollywood actors were not neccessary. Actors also just disappeared e.g. only the son grieving the loss of his mother and no husband to be seen. Surely this is not the actual events. It felt like budget became a problem as the movie progressed.

Viral story

[fmwongmd · 6/10 · 7 June 2020]

During our own pandemic of coronavirus this frightening story of what happens with the Ebola virus is frightening and sobering.