If Christmas carols originated in Nigerian slums, what would they sound like? Kunle Afolayan gives us an idea in his latest film, “A Naija Christmas” and we couldn’t agree more.
Among other things that make this film heart-warming is that it is Rachel Oniga’s last film before she passed away. After being shamed at a church gathering of women, Madam Agatha (Oniga) gives her sons Ugo (Kunle Remi), Obi (Efa Iwara), and Chike (Abayomi Alvin) an ultimatum to bring home a fiancé by Christmas, and there is a prize.
Ugo is a music producer and a ladies’ man while Obi is a nerd and romantic who works in a marketing firm. Chike, the youngest of the sons, is a fitness buff with unusual tastes and is uninterested in the prize. Ugo believes that it is rightfully his so he goes go head-to-head with Obi. Will Ugo’s charm win? Or will it be Obi the romantic?
Whatever the case, it won’t be an easy feat because Ugo has a loan shark on his neck, and it is bad for his game. As for Obi, his relationship with his colleague Vera (Linda Osifo) is shaky or worse still, perhaps Obi is in denial. Mama as Madam Agatha’s her children call her, also has a test that whomever her sons bring home must pass. We never got to find out what it is but somehow that suspense is part of what makes the movie magical.
“A Naija Christmas” is based on familiar holiday movie tropes yet the film is refreshing because the writer Kemi Adesoye stays away from telling a story about lavish Nigerian festivities. The film is well-scripted, entertaining, and unpretentious. If you have become lethargic about Afolayan films, “A Naija Christmas” might change your mind.
“A Naija Christmas” is streaming on Netflix.
