Landline Movie Review: When The Past Won’t Hang Up

In Landline, written and directed by Dele Doherty, a stranded military sergeant starts receiving creepy calls from an old landline, each one giving him clues to save his pregnant wife from a ruthless killer. But there’s a catch: no matter what he does, she dies. Again. And again. Trapped in a chilling time loop, he’s forced to relive the same nightmare, fighting fate and his unravelling sanity. Landline is available to watch on Prime Video.

Plot

What starts as just another sleepless night for pregnant Shalewa quickly spirals into a nightmarish loop of death, mystery, and desperate second chances.

Unable to sleep, Shalewa calls her husband, Kola, a military sergeant holed up in a safe house, guarding a piece of highly sensitive information. They share a light moment over the phone, exchanging banter until Kola receives a strange call on a supposedly secure line. The warning is chilling: Shalewa is in danger, and unless he answers the phone again in exactly one hour, she’ll die.

Kola alerts his superior, Commander Osheni, requesting backup for his wife. But at 11:11 PM, the horror begins. Shalewa’s doorbell rings, and when she opens it, she’s shot by a masked intruder. Moments later, Kola receives another eerie call from an untraceable landline. A voice on the other end predicts his wife’s death down to the minute. He tries to save her, but every time, she dies. Again. And again. And again. Eight times.

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Each loop offers new clues, new strategies, and new failures, as the mysterious voice keeps guiding Kola’s every move. With his sanity slipping and time running out, a second call finally reveals the truth behind the attacks, setting up one final shot at saving his wife and unborn child.

Will this last plan be enough? Or is fate already sealed?

Cast

Landline doesn’t parade a long list of characters, just three main on-screen characters, but it never feels empty. The minimal setup works in the film’s favour, keeping the tension tight and the focus sharp. Gabriel Afolayan leads as Kola, and while the plot itself makes it a bit tricky to connect emotionally at times, Afolayan rises to the occasion, carrying much of the film’s emotional weight, sometimes even more than the character in danger.

Zainab Balogun, who plays Shalewa, brings a different kind of strength. From her initial laid-back, restless state to her full transformation into someone fighting for survival, her performance is marked by a gradual but believable emotional build-up. Her transition from calm to chaos is one of the film’s most impressive elements.

The supporting voices and brief appearances add enough depth without overcrowding the narrative. Buchi Franklin takes a chilling turn as the masked killer, while Femi Doherty (as Kola’s father), Emmanuel Okere (the voice on the landline), Justin Ben (Commander Osheni), and Durotimi Okutagidi (the unknown caller) round out the cast with timely, well-delivered performances that feel purposeful, not perfunctory.

Despite its small cast, Landline proves that when the acting is strong and the story focused, less can be more.

Language

Landline is performed in English and Yoruba.

Summary

Landline dives into the tricky waters of time-loop storytelling, a space few Nigerian films have dared to explore, save for titles like The Beads, Japa, and Day of Destiny. But like those, it steers clear of any real sci-fi grounding. It flirts with complexity, but never fully commits to explaining the mechanics behind the loop.

The film gets points for a strong cast, solid production design, and decent effects. Costumes, setting, and camera work? No major complaints there. But the plot? That’s where things get shaky.

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The backstory feels like an afterthought, a rushed info-dump thrown in just to give the story some bones. Kola’s reason for being in a “safe house” is vaguely tied to a massacre, but the details are foggy at best. What exactly is he being protected from? Why is his information so dangerous? The film never really says. And the assassination motive? Weak and unconvincing.

Still, one thing the film gets right is how it handles the repetition. Instead of replaying the same scene over and over, Landline cleverly switches up the intros to each loop. It keeps the audience engaged and saves the movie from becoming a frustrating déjà vu marathon.

Bottom line? Landline had the potential to hit harder,  but with more context and a tighter backstory, it could’ve truly delivered on the promise of its daring concept.