Aishat Lawal, known better for her role as one of the meddlesome wives of the Alaafin in the Anikulapo film and series, takes on more principal roles in this self-produced film. The actress plays the lead character, Eriola, in a university drama set in some past time when Afro wigs and sharply cut sideburns were the trend. Inferable from the title, the film’s plot is a crossroad where several complications collide to create a messy narrative.
Eriola, despite being a medical student, still finds the time to engage in theatrical events. As an exciting performer, she puts audiences on the edge of their seats with her dancing and drumming skills. However, Eriola’s father (Bimbo Emmanuel), an insanely principled man and an overbearing father, would take steps to ensure that her distracting life as a performer is set aside.
Eriola’s school is ravaged by violent cultists who kill at a whim, but Eriola is not fazed by their antics and stands up for her friends against them, even slapping the most dreaded of them, Oyekan (Deyemi Okanlanwon), to make this point. Their paths cross again; this time, Oyekan is on the run from the authorities, and he seeks refuge in her room. Despite her obvious disdain for him, she inexplicably decides to hide him. This decision backfires as Oyekan is discovered and Eriola is arrested as an accomplice and subsequently rusticated. Her father expectedly disowns her and throws her out of his house. She shacks up with Oyekan, whose guilt makes him feel a sense of responsibility towards her.
Unsurprisingly, due to the shared trauma and proximity, I say this because nothing else can explain it, they develop romantic feelings and become a couple. However, demons from the past won’t let them be. Oyekan’s rival cult leader, Gbenga (Ibrahim Yekini Itele), won’t rest until he exerts revenge for his fallen members. Fela (Lateef Adedimeji), Eriola’s old flame, returns from outside the country and wants his girl back. While all of these conflicts should make for an intriguing and heavily layered drama, the poor interpretation of the plot and lazy depictions of the events make it look like a hastily put-together high school drama performance.
Crossroads starts as intriguing as it could, with a murder during a theatre performance. However, the narrative soon loses its way as co-directors Tope Adebayo and Adebayo Tijani are not able to properly express and resolve the conflicts via the motivation and intentions of the characters. They are also not able to find a point of congruence for the many complications of the plot. Oyekan takes in a devastated Eriola, purportedly to protect her from his rivals, who might want to get to him through her. He promises to sort everything out, implying her safety and her ability to return to a normal life, but the action he takes to “sort it out” is to get a job, an action that does not address any of the questions the plot has posed.
Crossroads is strong evidence that a star-studded cast cannot save a bad story. Despite having a stellar cast comprising actors like Deyemi Okanlawon, Lateef Adedimeji, Femi Adebayo, Kie Kie, and Yvonne Jegede, the acting performances are abysmal. This is due to poor execution of the plot and weak artistic guidance. If you can overlook the inappropriate age casting, with all the actors looking way older than their roles, it will be hard to ignore the abject lack of chemistry among the actors, especially between the two lead characters, who are supposedly lovers. None of the performances are convincing, as the actors resort to melodrama unnecessarily too many times. This is not helped by the poor blocking, which makes them appear painfully stationary in many of the scenes.
While the writing shows off an arsenal of Yoruba proverbs, the proverbs are the only part of the dialogue that is inspiring. The rest of the lines are weak, failing to capture the events or the action of the characters. At some point, it seems like the actors make up their own lines as the film progresses.
Crossroads is a film that promises little and gives little. The weak direction of the film leads to a poorly executed plot, unresolved situations and uninspiring acting— all critical issues that the elaborate 80’s costume and makeup cannot conceal.
Crossroads premiered on Prime Video in May.
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Side Musings
- “Being too principled can lead to wickedness,” words on marble
- The dialogue sounds like it was written by a 10-year-old.
- What really is the point of the sex scene?
- Why did all of the cultists have to be some sort of Van Damne?
- I comment my reserve.
