''Love Jacked'' is a Canadian romantic comedy film, directed by

Alfons Adetuyi Alfons Adetuyi is a Canadian film and television director and producer."Greater Sudbury's cinematic family". ''Sudbury Star'', April 25, 2009. A partner in the film and television production firm Inner City Films with his brothers Tom, Amos and R ...

and released in 2018. The film was shot primarily in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, with some location shooting in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Plot

The film stars

Amber Stevens West Amber Dawn Stevens West (born ) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Ashleigh Howard in the ABC Family series ''Greek'' (2007–2011)'','' Maxine in the NBC sitcom ''The Carmichael Show'' (2015–2017), and Claire Davis in t ...

as Maya, a young woman on a trip to

. While there she enters a whirlwind romance with Mtumbie (

Demetrius Grosse Demetrius Grosse (born February 26, 1981) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Rock in the film ''Straight Outta Compton'', Emmett Yawners in the Cinemax television series ''Banshee,'' Errol in the FX television series '' Just ...

), but shortly before returning home she breaks off their engagement when she catches him with another woman. To protect herself from the disapproval of her father (

Keith David Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his deep voice and screen presence in over 300 roles in film, stage, television, and interactive media. He has starred in such films as '' The Thing'' (1982), ''Pla ...

), she enlists Malcolm (

Shamier Anderson Shamier Anderson (born May 6, 1991) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his roles in the television series '' Wynonna Earp'', as U.S. Deputy Marshal Xavier Dolls, ''Invasion'', as Trevante Cole, and for Mr. Nobody in the action film '' John Wick ...

), a Canadian pool hustler on the run from his vengeful partner in crime Tyrell (

Lyriq Bent Lyriq Bent (born Martin Lyriq Bent) is a Jamaican-Canadian actor. He is known for his roles in the ''Saw'' films, the television series ''Rookie Blue'', and '' The Book of Negroes''. Bent portrays Jamie Overstreet in the Netflix series ''She's ...

), to impersonate Mtumbie."Love Jacked may be about a forced relationship, but it doesn't manage to develop one with its audience"
''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

'', December 7, 2018. Over a number of days, Malcolm gets to know Maya's family and Maya herself. He shows his carpentry skills helping her dad build a small studio, and he and Maya connect while joking around with some paints on a canvas. She gets herself and family members outfitted for the wedding ceremony. In the meantime, Tyrell sees Malcolm in town and demands he give his split of an earlier pool hustle, which he doesn't have because he returned it. Malcolm lets Tyrell think he's impersonating Mtumbie to scam the family out of money, when in reality he's planning to fake his death for Maya's sake. At the wake, both the real Mtumbie and Malcolm show up. Maya and Malcolm declare their feelings for each other, and Maya's cousin Naomi ( Nicole Lyn) flirts with Mtumbie.

Cast

as Ed, Maya's dad *

as Maya *

as Malcolm *

as Tyrell *

Mike Epps Michael Elliot Epps (born November 18, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He played Day-Day Jones in '' Next Friday'' and its sequel, '' Friday After Next'', and also appeared in ''The Hangover'' and '' The Hangover Part III'' as ...

as Uncle Rufus *

Marla Gibbs Marla Gibbs (born Margaret Theresa Bradley; June 14, 1931) is an American actress, singer, comedian, writer, and television producer whose career spans seven decades. She is known for her role as George Jefferson's maid, Florence Johnston, on th ...

as Rose *

as Mtumbie * Nicole Lyn as Naomi * Kim Roberts as Aunt Hilary

Awards and nominations

The film received a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

nomination for Best Hair (Renée Chan) at the

7th Canadian Screen Awards The seventh annual Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 31, 2019, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2018.2018 films 2018 romantic comedy films Canadian romantic comedy films English-language Canadian films Films directed by Alfons Adetuyi 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films English-language romantic comedy films {{2010s-Canada-film-stub