Yewendoch Guday 2 2013

Amero, Admasu Kebede, a renowned carpenter, works at a woodwork company with six colleagues—Tejo Mesfin Haileyesus, Solomon, Qecho Elizabeth Getachew, Tewedros Tewodros Seyoum, Emushu Wesagneh Hailu, and Zerihun Zerihun Asmamaw—all under the stern supervision of their boss Mr. Ketema. The group dynamic is thick with camaraderie, rivalries, and unspoken tensions, shaping a workplace where loyalty and ego collide as easily as sawdust and wood shavings.

Amy, Amero’s girlfriend, betrays him by having an affair with another man, pushing their relationship toward a painful crossroads. The pair eventually decide to travel to the United States, a plan that culminates in their decision to marry. Amero and his friends are invited to witness the wedding, but the moment turns dark when the group contemplates revenge against Amy by derailing the ceremony. In the midst of this turmoil, Amero’s path unexpectedly intersects with Helina Rekik Teshome, accompanied by her friend Martha Shewit Kebede. Amero, ever the actor in his own melodrama, presents himself as though he is more than he seems.

To win Helina, Amero fabricates a story about being a famed carpenter who has just returned from the U.S. and he even pretends to speak fluent English with ease. Helina becomes drawn to this confident, if hollow, persona, and a romance blossoms between Amero and her, aided by the fact that Helina and Martha soon form a wary but intimate bond with him. The pair’s new relationship threads its way through Amero’s circle of friends, who themselves have a complex dynamic—part camaraderie, part surveillance.

What begins as a narrow motive for revenge mutates into a more tangled plot. Amero and his friends establish a men’s association that initially centers on sharing sexual experiences and venting frustrations, but it morphs into a scheme that also involves spying on Helina and Martha. Amero tries to sleep with Helina, but both parties voluntarily pause; the group’s mischief is partially captured on a recording, and when the phone unexpectedly dies, the evidence vanishes from view, leaving the truth ambiguous. The next day, Amero faces a chorus of questions from his friends about the night’s events, but he insists he did not kiss her, which leaves the circle unsettled and disappointed.

Helina and Martha begin plotting against the men’s group, with Amero in particular at the center of their machinations. When money becomes tight for Amero, he buys a bracelet for Helina, passing it off as an expensive piece while privately knowing it isn’t. Tejo, one of Amero’s closest allies, even makes a covert attempt to steal from Helina, unbeknownst to Amero himself. Helina and Martha try to exchange the bracelet through a dealer but discover that it is counterfeit, a revelation that adds fuel to the growing animosity.

Driven by a need for revenge, Helina invites Amero to a hotel and purposely damages property—smashing a mirror and a beer bottle—to overwhelm him with costs and humiliation. The tension within their relationship intensifies as Helina’s nagging grows sharper, and eventually she confronts Amero with the truth that she knows about the counterfeit bracelet and his lies from the start. She abandons him, leaving Amero to grapple with the consequences of his deceptions.

Struggling and financially strapped, Amero contemplates leaving his job, only to be met with resistance from his boss. After an emotional standoff, Amero decides to step away for a while, a choice Helina later regrets. In a turn of events, Helina seeks the council of Mr. Ketema and tasks Amero with designing furniture for her bedroom, a professional opportunity that rekindles a complex tension between them. During this process, she tries to pay him a bonus that he refuses, prompting him to exit the situation.

Motivated by anger, Helina and Martha trail Amero to his workplace, where a confrontation with Mr. Ketema erupts. Helina then engages in a destructive outburst, smashing doors and assaulting Amero’s friends as she confronts him in the warehouse. Yet, despite the mounting chaos, a quieter moment arrives as Helina asks for forgiveness. In a sudden reversal of tone, she seizes a piece of furniture to threaten him, only to find themselves drawn back to each other in a tender embrace, a reunion greeted with celebratory singing from his friends who witness their reconciliation.

The film navigates themes of deception, loyalty, and the fragility of trust, set against the backdrop of a close-knit workshop where personal ambitions collide with intimate relationships. It unfolds as a study of how rivalries within a small group can shift into moments of vulnerability and, ultimately, into a fragile hope that two people who have harmed each other might still find common ground and a second chance.