Halfway into 2023, Nollywood has us loaded with movies!
Some, great and of course, some absolute duffers.
Nevertheless, drama remains the winning genre. A reflection on a kidnapper’s life. A group of courtesans trying to escape the (pun intended) death grip of a kingpin. A depiction of the struggles of single motherhood. And the list goes on. In a world where even the mundane stuff gets the buzz, one can often find themselves wondering which is the real deal.
Well. Not anymore. Ahead, we rate the top ten Nollywood movies so far.
Get ready to discover which ones you should be watching or giving a second helping later!
1. Battle on Buka street
As promised in the title, Funke Akindele’s tale of generational rivalry is chaotic but she and Tobi Makinde expertly coral it. Battle on Buka Street also does well in telling a tight story. Not one character that was introduced in the beginning went unaccounted for.
It’s an easy 9/10 from us.
2. Sistá
Struggles of single motherhood, maternal rage, the tilting of the scale in favour of absent fathers and forgiveness, have rarely been chewed over with quite this shimmering power. Biodun’s Stephen “Sistá” hits close to home for almost everyone and does so with simple cinematography.
We rate it a 9/10.
3. A Sunday Affair
Rom-coms have always been a gem of the genre- never out of season- and especially not during Valentines’. However, A Sunday affair, premised as a tale of romance and loyalty test between friends, defies this logic. Despite its imposing assemblage of actors( Dakore Egbuson, Nse Ikpe-Etim etc) , it sinks because of a lack luster script and the underdeveloped characters.
A Sunday affair rates an underwhelming 3/10 at Xplorenollywood.
4. Shanty Town
Chidi Mokeme is one of the highlights of this one with his ruthless delivery of Scar. In Shanty Town, he(Scar) is king and his word is law.
Outside Shanty Town, he is just as much as a puppet like the inhabitants of Shanty town that he lords over. Except for the fact that the movie takes too much on and fails to tidy all up in the end, Shanty Town is an absolutely okay watch.
We rate it a 6/10
5. Gangs of Lagos
Just like Shanty Town, Gangs of Lagos is all about action. It sees Adesua, Tobi Bakre, and Chike all deliver a riveting performance of three Isale-Eko children whose adoptive father was murdered in the streets they grew up.
Although it is not an exactly unique story, it was deliciously gruesome.
It rates a 7/10.
6. Obara’m
Hmm. This is one right here gets our foot in two camps. While we are all for ditching tired tropes, Obara’m is not quite explanatory.
The musical drama packs too much themes- a fathers love, selfishness, irresponsibility, paternity frauds etc but it fails to bring all or just one to a head.
E for effort though so it’s a 3.5/10.
7. The Kujus Again
Back to the much lighter side, we have The Kujus again, sequel to the raunchy prequel- Introducing the Kujus. While we hoped for more, it is not uncommon for sequels to not beat their prequels. Nonetheless, The Kujus Again was a digestible piece of cinema .
We rate it 6/10
8. Domitilla
Domitilla is the offspring of the reboot rage that swept through the industry last year and it retells the 1996 story of four ladies caught in a web of prostitution. While they get it right with the costumes, the story line lacked novelty and ends up a futile exercise in cine-reminiscence.
It rates a 5/10 at XploreNollywood.
9. Going on 35
Blessing Jessica Obasi has earned the lion’s share of plaudits for her performance, the only thing left is for her to go international.
In Going on 35, a not-so-popular movie that you should go watch if you haven’t, she plays the eldest of four children living with a secret that gradually eats her up from the inside until she becomes a shadow of her former self. Despite the minimal budget and the lack of hype, Going on 35 gives the best bang for one’s subscription.
It rates a 9/10 at Xplorenollywood
10. The Trade
The Trade tells the true life story of a notorious kidnapping kingpin in the South and Blossom Chukwujekwu is tasked with peeling his layers off for us to better understand him. That is The Trade’s first win- excellent casting. Another thing The Trade succeeds at its cinematography . The dingy vintage backdrop is exactly what a kidnapper hiding in plain sight will want.
The Trade rates 8/10.
There you have it, our ratings for the top Nollywood movies so far!
Which do you agree with and which will you give a second helping later?
1 Comment
Yep, The Trade, Sista and Battle on the Buka Street are really good. I’ll be checking out Going on 35.