There’s a certain artistry to Kill Boro that elevates it above the usual Nollywood treatment of abusive spouses. Written by Priye Diri and directed by Courage Obayuwana, Kill Boro tells the story of Boro (Philip Asaya), a middle-aged former gangster ridden with debt and his teenage son, Elijah (Kosi Ogborueche) who is desperate to have Boro killed to save himself and his mother from Boro’s physical abuse. 

The film’s premise is architecturally built on a very tragic and dramatic situation: a debt-ridden abusive husband owing a notorious gang leader and a conflicted son saving up money to eliminate his father. However, while certainly not presenting an advocate’s position to defend the cruel and vicious behaviour of the protagonist, the film resists the temptation of exploiting the volatile outbreaks. It depicts the emotional abuse and physical battery suffered by the wife without resorting to gratuitous, bloody, or gory scenes for the sake of performance. 

Kill Boro is a movie that understands the complexity of domestic violence. It takes a brutally honest approach to the tragic reality of spousal abuse in its portrayal of the abusive husband. It would have been easy for the filmmaker to demonise Boro, particularly since the actor already has a scary appearance, with his bushy beard, deep-set eyes and hulking figure. Instead, he lets the story unfold from the point of view of this protagonist, focusing on the deep-seated insecurity and poverty, which are the roots of his violence towards his family. 

One of the characters informs us that Boro has never always been an abusive man. What changed? Perhaps years of unfulfilled desire, the abject poverty and his drinking habit. But somewhere behind all his machismo, there is a tenderness that comes alive when he prepares a meal for his wife and in another scene where he covers up his son with a blanket. This other side of the titular character makes one root for him in the face of the looming tragedy. Boro’s relationship with his son is starved of affection and fraught with tension. However, it is the swift pull at the final decisive moment that transforms their relationship. Initially, the son wanted his father dead, but there is an arc that has the young son willing to take a bullet for his father, giving them both a chance at redemption and reconciliation.

While I extol praise on the protagonist and the actor behind the character, equal credit should also be given to Ini Dima-Okojie who portrays his wife, Boma. Ini goes way out of her usual middle-class cosmopolitan girl role to embody the character of the poor and abused wife. I like that her character as the abused wife is not stereotyped, either. She is shown as an intelligent and capable woman making an honest effort to confront the situation. Because of her performance, the filmmakers literally do not have to show much of the physical violence in action. The palpable fear she shows when Boro is about to go into one of his rage fits makes that unnecessary. It leaves us as fascinated voyeurs and doesn’t force us into feeling so much animosity towards the husband. This allows the film to explore its themes.

Another element that makes this film stand out is its richness of language. Kill Boro is set in the fictional town of Azuama against the evocative backdrop of the lush oil-rich city of Port Harcourt. The pidgin English the actors converse with is so raw and authentic as though they’ve spoken that language all their lives. This adds a local flavour to the harshness of the community and keeps you hanging around for what more the story world has to offer.

However, while the movie boasts of strong lead actors like Ini Dinma Okojie and Philip Asaya whose performances give the film its emotional weight, Kill Boro is littered with clumsy performances from its supporting cast and the convoluted character motivations that don’t help either. The casting choice of Greg Ojefua (This is Lagos) as a gang leader proves to be wrong. I understand the need for actors to display their range by taking on more challenging roles, but he doesn’t do any justice to being the Bossman. 

For the most part, Kill Boro is a slow-burning story that did not need to be. One waits for something to happen and it almost takes the entire movie before something happens in the end and when it does, it feels a bit contrived and rushed. There are some unnecessary scenes that could have been better off on the editing floor. Also, the film’s effectiveness is somewhat undercut by narrative confusion. Scenes that look like they’ll lead to their own story threads, including the opening, ultimately go nowhere. Boro’s backstory comes to us haphazardly — it isn’t until relatively late in the film that the full details of what happened to him are laid out on a single, confusing timeline. 

Despite its flaws, I’d say Kill Boro is one of those Nollywood films that is neither overachieving nor underwhelming but still holds viewers’ attention to the end. Obayuwana’s keen eye for details, as shown in the brilliant shots and angles that convey the story through settings and emotions, is powerful. Likewise, his use of lightning and sound in some of the scenes contributes to the sombre atmosphere that pervades the film.

The entire mood of this film will keep you in suspense until the shocking twist. It grabs you and takes you to its world where you’re constantly thinking how the characters are going to behave and the bad choices they are going to make. Its thoughtful exploration of toxic family dynamics and the layered consequence of domestic violence is refreshing without being didactic. 

Kill Boro premiered on Prime Video on May 30.

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Side Musings

• Greg Ojefua speaking in very good English as a gang leader makes his character more unbelievable and the other rival gang leader is a natural.

• Elijah has a warped sense of right and wrong: he suggested to Bossman that evil shouldn’t be paid with evil when the other rival gangs killed one of their own but he is willing to kill his father for just two hundred thousand naira. Elijah, make it make sense.

• I knew there was something significant about Boro’s wristwatch by the way people often made jest of it in passing. Let’s call that foreshadowing.