Nothing Short of Perfection || Review of Sista (2022)

You know when you watch a movie and you just vow to yourself that you’ll do a review no matter what, that’s how I felt after watching this movie. I hardly see any Nollywood movies being reviewed and I hardly watch Nollywood movies myself. But when you see a movie that is impeccable in plot, role-delivery, quality and every other thing, it just has to be showcased. I’d asked my sister who I got the movie from why I was only just noticing it and she said it was probably one of those movies that weren’t promoted well and people only realized how good it was much later.

Sista

_IMDB

Sista(2022) is a Nollywood film released on the 5th of August, 2022. Although the storyline of Sista is not particularly unique, since it centres on a teenage woman who gets pregnant, and promptly gets pursued from home with her boyfriend and left to fend for herself and her family, the movie is incredibly unique in its medium of delivery. You are on the edge of your seat and thoroughly entertained from start to finish. The movie is set in the Western part of Nigeria and the Yoruba language is used in some parts. It’s not prevalent but to thoroughly understand all the unfolding drama, subtitles are recommended.

Brief Summary of the Plot

The movie begins with a flashback where a girl drops a pregnancy bombshell on her boyfriend. Amid their confusion, they decide to inform their guardians and upon doing that, they are promptly sent away from home. The movie shifts to the present timeline where we discover that the teenage woman we saw earlier is our main character who is now a cleaner, Sista.

The movie conveniently alternates between these two timelines. In the past where a teenage Sista lived with her boyfriend, Fola, in his hostel to enable him further his education and in the present where Sista is a single mother of two who breaks her back as a cleaner, to fend for her children. She’s moderately comfortable but still works tirelessly to ensure that her children are well provided for and don’t go through her past ordeals.

Switching back to the past, a heartless Fola promptly but not unexpectedly abandons a pregnant Sista and their two-year-old son via a single letter to seek a better life. This sudden abandonment nearly crumbles Sista with hurt but a hardworking woman as she is, she vows to do her best for her children.

Things go smoothly for the family with Sista working as a cleaner for the rich and privileged till fate uncannily brings the father of her children, now extremely well-to-do and also married to another woman with kids, back into her life. Upon her children’s pleas, Sista allows Fola become a part of their life but trouble ensues when he unabashedly showers them with luxury and unwittingly almost snatches the children she laboured for from her hand. Whether it bodes well for all the characters in the end is for my dear readers to find out.

My Favourite Character

Kehinde Bankole as Sista

Every word of this woman’s mouth in every scene was nothing short of impeccable. If anyone perfectly embodied a role so much so that the person becomes that character and the character, the person, it’s undisputedly Sista (Kehinde). There is no way you’d ever imagine that this wasn’t her story with her stellar acting and delivery of the plot. She’s an exemplary actress and her heartwarming representation of the role, Sista, is Oscar-worthy. She’s my absolute favourite in the movie through and through.

My Review/Rating

As I’d said before, the plot of Sista is not exactly unique in the beginning, but its undertones, subplots and general delivery make it top the ranks of every other movie in that genre. There isn’t a single fault I could find as the characters represented their roles as realistically as possible. Many times a movie fails because some scenes in the movie, some lines, or the ending don’t seem that realistic. But in Sista, start to finish was nothing short of realistic. I even wondered if it wasn’t based on a true life story. The characters that could have been vicious and malicious in other movies weren’t and were simply themselves.

I give Sista a solid 4.9/5. It completely satisfied me in every way that matters. And I was thoroughly entertained. I look forward to your feedback, for those who’ve seen this film. And for those yet to watch, I do hope you try Sista today. It’s a guarantee that you will enjoy it just as much as I did.

Jhymi🖤

All images are from the movie screenshots unless otherwise stated.