This movie is such a delight to see! Great costumes and props, beautiful scenery (trivia: the entire sets were constructed from the scratch!) Amazing cinematography, Nollywood's legends, the Yoruba language, cultures and traditions Bimbo Ademoye and Kunle Remi in their most iconic roles, etc, etc. All these and many more are what brought about this masterpiece!
Set in Old Oyo town, the core home of the Yoruba people, this is a story of love, hatred, betrayal, greed, selfishness and lust. Saro, a down-on-his-luck young man from Gbongan seeking greener pastures in Oyo meets a rich woman, Awarun. He becomes her sugar boy and she gives him the soft life, introducing him to kings and important people. Saro, in his true form meets and falls in love with the king's favourite wife, Arolake and plans to elope with her. This angers the scorned teenage princess, Omowunmi who nurses a burning passion for Saro. He is captured and left for dead. He somehow survives the ordeal with Arolake's help and procures a gourd with powers to raise the dead from a certain mythical bird. He marries Queen Arolake and becomes a local celebrity in the faraway village they elope to.
But Saro the Yoruba demon will always be a Yoruba demon. Before long, he begins to chase other women, marry them and have children with them with impunity. It does not help that Arolake cannot produce a child for him. Scorned, tired and frustrated, she brings about this ungrateful Saro's eventual death and disgrace in this village. He lived for the yansh and died for the yansh. The entire lesson in this movie still remains that men will stain your white. Women always think that the grass is greener on the other side. A poor man is always humble until small money and power touches his hand, then he begins to misbehave. Women who can't have children always suffer in this part of the world. I hope Arolake finds love.
This is just the summary; the movie is actually more multilayered than this. And it definitely has a lot of plot holes. For example, how come no one looked for Arolake when she went missing from the palace? Especially when Saro was captured? How come there are no lasting repercussions for stealing the gourd from the bird and disturbing the balance between life and death? Also, where did Omowon's character come from? What happened in Oyo after their disappearance? Saro became famous and popular in Ojumo, how come the news of his fame did not spread to Oyo? All these and many more plot holes are spotted in this movie. Kunle Afolayan owes us an explanation!
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But I guess he no longer cares about anybody's opinion on the storylines of his movies. I mean, he gave us the psychological thriller Figurine, the multiple award-winning October 1, the movie with the unpredictable ending, The CEO, and even Citation. But in this one, he gave us nudity and a storyline based on morals and culture, coupled with good casting and a beautiful picture quality. I guess we can work with that. The open-ended beginning and ending leaves one with an array of unanswered questions and a lot to ponder upon. It is like there is something missing and the story needs to continue. But will there be a sequel? I guess not. Kunle Afolayan does not roll that way. Lol.
Talking about the cast in this movie will take another review of its own. Apart from 'newcomers' who are not so brand new like Kunle Remi, Bimbo Ademoye, Aishat Lawal, Adebowale 'Mr Macaroni' Adedayo, Ikorodu Bois, and introducing Adedoja Adeyemi, and Eyiyemi Afolayan in their debut, this movie is perhaps the biggest platform for the Nollywood veterans we grew up watching to converge in recent times; like a reunion of some sort, and this nostalgia I felt was almost solid. There is Taiwo 'Ogogo' Hassan, Kareem 'Baba Wande' Adepoju, Toyin 'Lola Idije' Afolayan, Adewale Elesho, Moji Afolayan, Razak 'Ojopagogo' Olayiwola, Ifayemi Elebuibon, Adebayo Salami, Faithia Williams Balogun, Adedeji 'Olofaina' Aderemi, Sunday 'Aluwe' Omobolanle, Samson 'Jinadu' Eluwole, Babatunde 'Fokoko' Bamgbode, Sola 'King of Boys' Shobowale, Ronke 'Oshodi Oke' Ojo, Yinka Quadri, Ayandotun Emmanuel, Kunle Afolayan in a small role and Ropo Ewenla as the King's mouthpiece. But the most intentional casting has got to be Hakeem Kae Kazim. Do you know what it is to cast one of Hollywood's finest in an epic role and give him absolutely no speaking lines? Just facial gestures and vibes. This movie is ahead of its time!
There are still a lot of things to unpack in this movie. Perhaps I will do another review some other day. But I will say this much. If and when you acquire power in your life, never ever give that power to a man. I say again, men will stain your white. And when you pray never to jam Agbako in your life, pray never to jam Saro, because Saro is Agbako, and Agbako is Saro. Nuff said.
