Riveting River Entertainment

Pitch Deck–Coming Soon!

Think of Trafficked
meets Taken.

Synopsis

Be careful what you wish for

In Calabar, Nigeria, 17-year-old Minika is a natural beauty and, like her Mother, Asari, has a natural ability to dance to the native drums of Africa. But, since losing her mother and father at an early age, she and her younger sister, Maeyen, are forced to live with their overbearing Aunt, Mma Efa, who forces them to work as street vendors to have enough money to survive. While on the streets, the two girls encounter a dance group preparing for “Carnival Calabar,” and Minika is invited to join in. Dance leader, Mesembe, is impressed and invites Minika to join the group, but she must dance without the knowledge of her Aunt Mma Efa.

In Rio de Janeiro, dance company owner Carlos Mora flaunts his wealth, but is tired of not winning the Rio “Carnival” each year and decides to take his Dance Captain, Santos, the entire troupe and girlfriend to Calabar to learn new dances from Mesembe’s group. In Calabar, the Brazilians are impressed with Nigeria’s beauty and energy as the two dance teams work together. Carlos is impressed with Minika’s natural and entrancing dance talent and, after “Carnival,” invites her to move to Rio so the world can enjoy her dancing.

Carlos lavishes Minika with expensive gifts and accommodations, and against the disappointment of Mesembe, Maeyen, and Mma Efa, Minika decides to move to Rio. But without a passport, Carlos makes some “back door” arrangements and gets passage on a cruise liner for Minika under an alias. On board, Minika notices that some of the things that Carlos does and says don’t add up.

Arriving in Rio De Janeiro, Carlos takes Minika to his apartment complex and directs her to her room. She is shocked to find four other young girls chained to the walls, wherein Carlos gags Minika, and she passes out. She is alone in a small cell when she awakes and can hear other girls through the walls. Collectively, they plan an escape. Back in Calabar, Mesembe launches an investigation into Minika’s whereabouts and contacts Santos in Brazil. He learns that Minika never arrived and questions Carlos’ integrity. In Rio, Minika and four of the girls escape only to be betrayed by a taxi driver and are recaptured.

Six months later, Minika and some of the other girls have been sold to a wealthy drug lord, Salvadore, in his well-guarded compound in Caracas. He treats the girls with contempt and uses them for his pleasure as he feels fit. Salvadore plans his 50th birthday party for four hundred guests, including Carlos’ dance troupe from Brazil. Mesembe travels to Brazil to confront Carlos, but Carlos leaves for Caracas. Santos is convinced that Carlos is evil and schemes with Mesembe to free the girls when they all go to Caracas.

In Caracas, Mesembe learns that the shop owner Marcos and the whole town loathe and fear Salvadore but, with some convincing, will help in the attempt to free the enslaved girls, including some local girls. At the party, Mesembe spikes the cigars with Nigerian Dream Root extract that causes hallucinations. Minika is forced to dance after the featured Mora Dance Ensemble from Brazil, not knowing that Mesembe is there. When she begins her dance, she sees Mesembe and smiles as the dream root takes effect on Salvadore and the other many hombres in the room.

During Minika’s dance, an older woman emerges from the kitchen at the sound of the drums. It is her long-lost mother, Asari. Explosions rock the fortress from outside. Fires ignite inside the compound. Four hundred guests panic and try to escape the compound at once. Fights ensue. Minika’s mother with the headmistress. Carlos with his girlfriend. Mesembe with Carlos. In the chaos, Minika finds her mother. Mesembe grabs them both and heads for the kitchen as an escape. Salvadore, now very drugged, stands with a gun at the exit. One of the local enslaved girls stabs him in the back as he fires at Minika. Mesembe dives and takes the bullet in his arm. They escape as the mansion goes up in flames.

Minika, Asari, and Mesembe return to Calabar, and Mms Efa’s house only to find that Carlos had just been there and has now taken little sister Maeyen.