The love triangle is one of the most common elements in romance-themed films. In Nollywood, we have seen this in many forms, whether it’s two men fighting for the attention of a lady, a man stringing two women along or a lady caught between choosing her struggling lover and a rich man. In All’s Fair in Love, a romantic film with a tinge of crime, dashing Mbali Khumalo (played by South African act Buhle Samuels) is at the center of Demi’s (Deyemi Okanlawon in his producing debut) and Kanla’s (Timini Egbuson) attention as she cunningly wraps the business partners around…
Author: Ayodele Olawumi
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Like any other year, many Nollywood movies found their way to the cinema screens; some found success on the big screens, while others had to wait for a streaming platform to land to get the appreciation they deserved. These are some 2021 Nollywood movies that were released in cinemas and are currently available on Netflix and Prime Video. 2023 Nollywood Films Already Streaming on Netflix and Prime Video Devil in Agbada (Prime Video) Linda Osifo plays a little girl who watches helplessly as masked attackers shoot and kill her parents. A cunning man similarly defiles Tomi (Erica Nlewedim), whose mother…
“The street is a tough place, not for the weak. You either toughen up or the wolves of the street will devour you” is a mantra repeated one too many times for a film that shows almost no depiction of the “streets.” The vagueness of this statement in relation to the plot of Kayode Kasum’s latest film serves as an example of how underdeveloped almost every aspect of the film is. One Too Many revolves around the traumatic lives of a single mother, Adesuwa (Dakore Egbuson-Akande), and her son, Otas (Chimezie Imo). Adesuwa’s loving and devoted father, Amos (Ikponmwosa Gold),…
I was a bit pumped to see Temitope Akinbode’s On The Edge. The trailer gave off a sense of intrigue, but mostly because Uzor Arukwe, one of my favourite Nollywood actors, was cast as one of the central characters, Korede Williams, an aspiring governorship candidate. Having seen him deliver good performances in films like A Tribe Called Judah, The Blood Covenant, and The One For Sarah, I anticipated another performance of the same standard. Thirty minutes into the 2-hour film, I already felt a sense of disappointment—Uzor Arukwe was rendering one of his inadequate performances, and the substance promised in…
Rebel Moon is the product of a 26-year-old idea conceived by co-writers Zack Snyder and Kurt Johnstad when they were in college, based on the idea of a Dirty Dozen movie set in space. The space opera bears many similarities to George Lucas’s Star Wars. Both are set in fictional galactic worlds with diverse varieties of creatures. Also, there is a struggle against an imperial force—the Motherworld in Snyder’s Rebel Moon. In fact, the idea was first pitched to LucasFilm as a “Seven Samurai”-inspired “Star Wars story” before becoming a Netflix original. In Zack Snyder’s newest film, the Motherworld, controlled…
Merry Men becomes more outrageous with each installment, increasing the stakes to ridiculous heights and presenting far-fetched scenarios, like a low-budget Fast and Furious. The Guardian branded their Merry Men 2 review “low-budget Fast & Furious-style shenanigans,” a comparison that only becomes clearer in this instalment, where The Merry Men have evolved from being Robin Hood-style heroes to being caught in matters that affect national security. However, whereas the daring family of F&F is famed for their remarkable driving talents, there’s virtually nothing that the Merry Men are conspicuously good at. As the characters blunder about with little identity or…
Tamara Jola-Scott (Sandra Okunzuwa), daughter of rich Lagos socialite Jolayemi Scott (Patrick Doyle), is a spoiled rich kid who treats everyone (friends included) as if beneath her. The news of her father’s involvement in an embezzlement scheme and his impending arrest abruptly ends her wedding day preparations. All their properties are to be seized, her wedding is cancelled, her fiancé’s father (also her dad’s business partner) is not interested in a union with someone who steals from him and to cap it all her fiancé, Demola (Timini Egbuson), wants nothing to do with her. Totally abandoned by friends and family,…
The murder mystery genre has not been a strong suit of Nollywood filmmakers. Most of them, especially the mainstream releases, are characterised by wishy-washy and overly straightforward plots. But A Weekend to Forget is a pleasant surprise, although it is not particularly exceptional. It comprises elements that make a film of this genre worth the watch – a captivating and thick plot, thrill and unexpected twists. Seven friends go on a weekend getaway and what should be a weekend of fun turns awry when one of them is murdered. Anyway, what do you expect when a cheating husband, his wife…
Human trafficking is one of the pervasive evils that has persisted throughout the history of mankind. It has been propagated using several methods, taking several forms as the times changed. History shows that slavery has always been a part of almost every society, from the beginning of civilization in Egypt to the transatlantic slave trade that displaced generations of people from Africa to the New World. Despite the measures that have been taken to battle slavery globally, human traffickers have found several creative means to perpetuate modern slavery, trafficking unfortunate individuals around the world to serve masters in subhumane conditions.…
Directed by Toka McBaror, Underbelly is a period film set in 1976, using the approaching FESTAC event as a backdrop. Ojo (Femi Adebayo) and Afang (Smart Conrad) journey from the Southern region of Nigeria to the North to work in a leather-making factory. The friends hope to make enough money to attend the Second World African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) taking place in Lagos at the beginning of the next year. Their arrival at the factory is not warmly welcomed by the locals and co-workers, especially with reckless Afang’s philandering escapades with other people’s wives. Also, they unknowingly…