From Get Out to Midsommar, the dilution of narrative tropes is a filmmaking staple. It is a misdirection technique to heighten or spotlight a specific element within the film. Coupled with being a great, slow-burner horror, Get Out is a film about racial disparity. It is most uncanny because the film starts out as a harmless romance. Kaelo Iyizoba’s Boy Meets Girl neatly falls into this category—a film that deliberately chooses narrative deception to highlight the death of innocence. In a fateful meet-cute, a schoolboy, Musa (Gabriel Dung), and a girl (Aaliyah Atamazu) meet on a public bus in Northern…
Author: olamideadio
Read More
Dinner is a 2016 movie written and directed by Jay Franklyn Jituboh (The Origin: Madam Koi-Koi). It stars Okey Uzoeshi, Keira Hewatch, Eyinma Nwigwe, Deyemi Okanlawon, and Kehinde Bankole as its principal characters. Making special appearances are Richard Mofe Damijo and Ireti Doyle. It is a small-cast film that plays on the energy around what happens when you put a small number of people in a room and dial up the emotional chaos. Ade (Enyinma Nwigwe) invites his childhood friend, Mike (Okey Uzoeshi), for dinner with his fiancee, Lola (Kehinde Bankole). Mike comes along with his reluctant fiancee, Diane (Keira…
After a run of original series like Diiche, Crime and Justice Lagos, and Flawsome, Showmax has finally released its first Nigerian original feature, School Run. The film stars Ifeanyi Kalu and Amanda Iriekpen as its torchbearers. In School Run, a series of unfortunate events lead to Bolu’s (Greatness Ewurum) disappearance after he is picked up by a different driver his nanny delegated to pick him. His workaholic parents, Timelehin and Adeola Kalejaiye (Ifeanyi Kalu and Amanda Iriekpen), must now come together and accept the burden of parenthood before they can find their son. The biggest grouch to have with School…
Funke Akindele’s star-studded Christmas submission, A Tribe Called Judah, is a good film. That is one part of criticism simplified: To arrive at the point as early and quickly as possible. The film hits all the right chords for a warm Nigerian family drama. There is the hardworking parent, there is the financial struggle in the family, and there are good children, and there are black sheep, and then there is the adversity that finally brings them all together. A Tribe Called Judah highlights that fear we all have as Nigerians. That every middle to low-income family is one surgery…
In the distance atop New Culture Studio, Ibadan, the panorama of an old city spreads, gilded with rust and forgotten history. The resigned compliance of age ricochets, punctuated with occasional loud car horns. There is a permanent nostalgia roaming this city. Turn away from the vista, and you will find the Ibadan Indie Film Awards (IFA) waiting. The festival mirrors the ancient city’s sensibilities yet is a different kind of beauty itself. An assemblage of over a hundred creatives and filmmakers; some dressed with avant-garde leanings, others downright bizarre. Come for the dressings, stay for the films. Goodness Emmanuel, Ebuka…
By the time Moses Inwang’s Blood Vessel’s first act draws near its close, the gnawing, worrying feeling that this might be a bad, melodramatic movie begins to creep in on you. The emotional outbursts from Oyin (Adaobi Dibor), though justified, have been unearned narratively. The energetic opening sequence is abrupt and chaotic. Something undone about the first act makes it feel like it should be slower and faster simultaneously. But as the first act closes, an interesting thing happens: the story redeems itself. Blood Vessel pays homage to the illegal migrants who take the most dangerous routes to leave their…
Ololade opens with a morbid premise. It is a scene that’d set a tone for any viewer. Two figures shrouded in darkness and accompanied by an eerie soundtrack are digging a shallow grave. They pick a corpse and toss it into the grave. Then, we cut to the title card. One expects several things from the series with that opener: mystery, thrill perhaps, crime, definitely, and most importantly, a clever plot. As the series unfolds, it quickly becomes clear that Ololade doesn’t have the gravitas to deliver on all fronts. Ololade is a 6-episode Netflix-acquired original series with Lani Aisida…
Adeoluwa Owu’s Adire is FilmOne’s debut original. It is the first in their line-up for in-house originals. The all-purpose Nigerian film company has officially thrown its hat in the filmmaking mix of original productions. The director, Owu, responsible for The Griot (2021), has contributed to a line of films as director and cinematographer. In Adire, Owu and FilmOne grapple with the basic impulse of freedom and what it might mean to one who has never truly had it. Adire (Kehinde Bankole) is a retired prostitute on the run from her pimp (Yemi Black). She wants to define what freedom might…
⭐ Critic’s pick C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi’s Mami Wata is a visually striking film. It deploys chiaroscuro with incredible balance. With each scene, the film challenges itself on how far it can push its monochromatic boundaries. It is a worthy vehicle for its story about a secluded community’s dilemma of abandoning their ancient goddess and accepting modernity or holding on to their faith in her. Complicating this conundrum are the personal conflicts ravaging the small family of the priestess, Mama Efe (Rita Edochie), and her two daughters, Zinwe (Uzuoamaka Aniuonoh) and Prisca (Evelyn Ily). With Mami Wata, Obasi presents a new…
Jagun Jagun is an ambitious epic film. It opens with an expanse of visual power and a sense of invincibility. Pay attention to the chilling low-angle shot the film introduces Ogundiji (Femi Adebayo). Savour the badass slow-motion as he tosses innards away into a sacrificial pool. Be impressed by the scene he confronts Jigan (Odunlade Adekola) and declares his power. It is a scintillating sequence that sets the tone of the film. But it is not original. ‘Jagun Jagun (The Warrior)’ Review: Lateef Adedimeji is Our Champion in Typical Yoruba Epic Jagun Jagun’s plot, cast, and crew are interchangeable with…