CHRISTMAS IN LAGOS // MOVIE REVIEW

I'm late to the party!!!
It's a few days after Christmas, and just look when I'm writing something in that theme that would have been more exciting then. It's all good, right!? Yeah! Let's get into the review.

Written and Directed by Jade Osiberu, this movie titled “Christmas in Lagos” tells the story of love, friendship, choices, grief, healing, hope, and happiness.

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PLOT

Fiyinfoluwa ‘Fiyin’ (Teniola Aladese) is all her mother has. Her mother, Gbemi (Shaffy Bello), has dedicated her entire life to looking after her daughter and business empire since after the love of her life passed many years prior.

While Fiyin can’t wait to finally tell her childhood/best friend Elo (Shalom Obiago) how she feels about him. Her mother, on the other hand, is torn between saying ‘yes’ to her present lover Toye (Wale Ojo) or her long-lost childhood friend/betrothed now Chief Dozie (Richard Mofe-Damijo).

Romance is in the air, but in what direction would the wind of love take all parties involved? Well, why not grab your popcorn and perhaps some tissue papers too as you may be needing both whilst watching events unfold in this amazing Romcom.

MY TAKE

What a beautiful love story! The storyline, plot, and subplots all came together quite seamlessly. All the actors understood their assignment and delivered. Jade Osiberu might very well just be one of my best writers/directors when it comes to this genre of matters of the heart. She seems to be a master of the art. cause what!!!! The movie was unpredictable.

The camera angles, cinematic elements, vintage cars as per props and costume, the African-American accent from Elo, and the Black-British accent from Ivie (Rayxia Ojo)…these added extra layers to the movie.

The aesthetics, the intentionality, the ambience…oh my! The lady who played Yagazie (Angelo Anosike) is just drop-dead gorgeous, and the Elo guy is fiiiiinnneeeee!!! Such a tall glass of chocolatey goodness…both their skin tones, simply obsidian. I would love to see more of two of them as a pair in subsequent projects.

Now, let’s talk about the on-screen connection between Shaffy and RMD! Whatttt??? That was refreshing to see. I kept gushing at their connection. It felt so natural.Their dentition when they both smiled, just breathtaking. The spark in Shaffy’s eyes as a lover girl is super enthralling. I really adore Shaffy, and i loved seeing her in this role…so vulnerable yet enchanting and sweet.

I love the juxtaposition angle this story took, placing love talks between two different generations side by side, pari passu. It was engaging, relatable, intriguing, suspenseful, and super interesting. I was smiling all through the film.

See, the poster design does not do justice to the content therein in this movie. I loved the special appearances by the musicians. Ladipoe as Ajani, WAJE as Caroline (my lady can siiiiiinnnng ), Ayra Starr as herself, Adekunle Gold as himself. Using Portable’s ‘Zazu’ song and Chike & Mohbad song “Egwu” was superb.

I loved how Fiyin referred to her mother as “Mommy Fiyin” it reminds me of how one of my brothers does the same with my mum.
Teniola should perhaps do a master class on her walking steps cause her gait is fascinating to watch. I love it…such confidence. She successfully drew us into her world for how she embodied the character of Fiyin.

I can hardly fault this movie except that the Elo guy seemed to be a little rigid with his role interpretation in most of his scenes and his Igbo wasnot exactly 'Igbo-ing.'

Another vety little issue in this movie for me is that we were made to understand that Gbemi was a businesswoman who was into fabric sales. A business she was grooming Fiyin to take over from, but not for once did we get to see her in that light.

I was dying to see the showcasing of African fabrics, prints, and materials. We only saw Fiyin doing more of events planning and organising. I know it’s possible this comes as part of the fabric business, but I wanted to see an abundant display of the fabrics themselves.

The color combinations, too, in some of the interiors, was confusing as to what era or year the movie was set in. Sometimes, it was giving 80s or 90s vibes, but the movie is set in 2024.

Nevertheless, this was a beautiful watch! Some parts felt like watching a Hollywood movie, to be honest. I loved the ending. The title should prolly have been 'Christmas/New Year’s Day' in Lagos.' I loved seeing Ejike Aisegbu and Ebele Okaro. The cast lineup was such a delight to see. Bravo to the cast and crew.

The movie was a 9 for me. It didn't give the regular nollywood ending which was a plus.t really was a blast. See this film if you haven’t. You'd love it!

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Greetings!