Author: Ayodele Olawumi

Spoiler alert!  Two narratives drive the plot of The Wildflower, Bright and Enterprising Rolake (Damilare Kuku) gets a chance to work at a leading architectural firm as a personal assistant to the CEO Gowon Williams (Deyemi Okanlawon) whom she looks up to and comes to totally worship, but it turns out he has an ugly side; he is a serial rapist and he takes advantage of her on a business trip. On the other hand, Rolake’s neighbour, mama Adaolisa (Toyin Abraham), endures domestic abuse at her husband’s hands until tragedy strikes one day and he kills her and flees, leaving…

Earlier this month, Tunde Kelani’s 2021 semi-biopic on the legendary Apala musician from Abeokuta, Ayinla Omowura, eponymously titled Ayinla was re-released on Netflix. It has received a mixed reception. Some consider it a masterpiece, while some describe it simply as boring. Ayinla might be considered by viewers as not exciting enough, probably because the film doesn’t have an overriding conflict that drives the plot, rather the plot progresses from one minor conflict to the next as it chronicled the life of Ayinla.  Movie Review: ‘Ayinla’ and “Chronicles of a Death Foretold” Best Nollywood Directors in 2021 Ayinla premiered in cinemas…

Inkblot’s latest cinema release, The Perfect Arrangement, features a love triangle, politics, high-class living, a fake wedding, a sex tape and two families’ struggle for survival. Seeing her family’s fortunes go down the drain, Tade (Sharon Ooja) decides to take it upon herself to save the day by proposing marriage to her ex-boyfriend, Chidi (Bovi), a union that would guarantee her family’s survival and save Chidi’s political ambitions. But there are some snags: a persistent journalist on a mission, her feelings for two brothers and her personal ambitions.  ‘The Blood Covenant’ Co-writer Chiemeka Osuagwu on the Film’s Inspiration, His Television…

Lakeith Stanfield (Atlanta) and Issa Rae (Insecure) star in this somber romance flick. Written and directed by Stella Meghie (Everything, Everything), New York journalist, Michael Block (LaKeith Stanfield) goes to Louisiana to interview Isaac (Y’lan Noel) about the effects of an oil spill but the story takes a different turn when he sees an interesting picture of successful photographer Christina Eams (Chante Adams), Isaac’s old flame who had left Louisiana to make a name in New York. Michael decides to look up Christina when he gets back to New York, he finds out that she’s dead and he meets her…

EbonyLife Studios and Netflix thrill viewers with another crime drama, Blood Sisters, Nollywood’s first original series on the global streaming platform. Created by Temidayo Makanjuola (Money.Men.Marriage), Blood Sisters is a tale of blood and gore driven by sibling rivalry, a Cindarella story gone wrong, a botched wedding, murder plots, opportunistic parents and dark, dirty family secrets.

The Man for the Job is a Silicon Valley-esque Nollywood film that portrays an uncommon side of the Nigerian tech space, failed dreams, sour friendship and a heist? Despite the story having different possible narratives that make it difficult to point out the overriding one, the story can generally be summarised thus: A struggling former tech wiz Joseph Barnabas (Uzor Arukwe) meets a young female programmer Zina (Temi Otedola) during his side hustle as a ride-hailing taxi driver, he helps her to debug the codes of an app for a fee, before he is caught up in her plot and…

Another high-class optics, Lagos-set story fuelled by greed, bad decisions and money rituals. Four friends Osiano (Shawn Faqua), Jite (Uzor Arukwe), Eddie (Tobi Bakre), and Obi (Alex Ekubo) make a covenant in secondary school to never leave themselves. After school, Obi drifts away from the group and suddenly becomes rich while the rest of the group continues to struggle on different levels. The trio’s fortunes are flipped after they survive being murdered for money rituals by their long-lost friend (Obi) and the covenant of the ritual is fortuitously transferred to them. But their lives are turned upside down as they…

Childhood trauma, religious anarchy, a prodigal son, a love rectangle and crime are the main features of The Man of God, Bolanle Austen-Peters’ latest release on Netflix. It’s hard to pinpoint the underlying story of this film because of the manner in which the plot is scattered, but to put it simply, The Man of God chronicles Samuel Obalolu’s (Akah Nnani) journey from abandoning religion and finding his way back to it whilst dealing with childhood trauma inflicted by his overzealous pastor father (Jude Chukwuka). Samuel drifts in and out of acknowledging his faith and when he does, it is…

Anthill Studios and Euphoria 360’s co-production, King of Thieves, is an exciting story of heroism, betrayal, maternal love and revenge. With Femi Adebayo leading a star-studded cast, King of Thieves is an epic film about an invincible bandit, Ageshinkole (Femi Adebayo) whom, driven by revenge exerts a reign of terror on the fictional Kingdom of Ajeromi. All efforts by the citizens of the kingdom to defeat him and end his reign prove to be futile. ‘ A Simple Lie’ Review: An Admirable Addition to the Biodun Stephen-Shutterspeed Library Ageshinkole Character poster. Via Euphoria 360/ Anthill Studios The action in King…

In this Matt Reeves-directed thriller, the Dark Knight faces off against the Riddler (Paul Dano) and other foes as he uncovers decades old corruption that has eaten deep into his beloved city, Gotham. The incumbent mayor is murdered weeks to the election and the killer leaves a message “for The Batman”, a riddle he has to solve in time to save Gotham from ruin. It is hard to watch this movie without comparing it to previous Batman movies. Like any Batman movie, it is dark but way darker than the rest. It feels like Matt Reeves set out to create…