Kenny Bankole’s performance will always light up any stage irrespective of where the stage is setup but Adire almost bled her dry. The movie follows the life of a prostitute (Bankole) who escapes her boss (Yemi Blaq) and relocates to Oyo town to lead a new life. Rather than leave behind her lifestyle, she horns it into a weapon against unsuspecting men of Oyo community.
Adire, a made-up name by Bankole after entering into Oyo town, will soon become the community favourite of the women who soon rename her as the supplier of ‘Miracle Bra’. The story tries it best to preach a narrative that all that looks bad isn’t all bad and all that appears like gold isn’t always so. Where it falls short is how it tied it all up at the end, which is extremely unsatisfying for me.
We got to meet a religious scholar who prioritised doctrine over empathy, a community plagued by adultery yet superficially christians. A druglord who looked more like the drug than the lord, and a whorehouse that set the pacing of the movie in too much of a convenient way. I love what the director, Adeoluwa Owu, and writer, Jack’eneth , tried to do with the narration - teeing up sub-stories and subtexts into the bigger story world of Adele herself…. I think they just eventually lost track at some point, didn’t wrap it all up nicely in a creative way.
And there’s the illustration of Oyo town with the woman selling maize corn. I thought that was a nice visual metaphor.
In hindsight, I wonder why the supposed haunted house never haunted Bankole’s character. If such superstitious believe was introduced in the story world, it would have been wise to play to that rhythm as well rather then just introducing/ignoring it for convenience.
Adire told the visual story as much as it could and kudos to director Owu. I particularly find the interior scenes interesting with the little bit of teal tone, I thought carefully consideration was paid to both the lighting and production design as well, but not so much for the exterior scenes. Did I say I love the teal tone? Oh yes I do.
The costumes and choice of colours were great by Obijie Oru. The character growth was pretty obvious in characters like Shalewa and Adire herself as regards the costumes.
Though not her best work, I think Kenny Bankole was amazing. I remember having a conversation with a pretty lady about Kenny’s role in the movie, and my exact statement was: “I think Kenny Bankole has achieved a status in the industry where she can pick and choose her roles and movies”. I thought the role of Adire was a bit too young and lowly for her, but then again, she ended up carrying the entire movie into the recognition it has today. I take a bow maestro.
Kelechi Udegbe playing Tobi was awesome. I looked forward to his next screen time every-time he goes off. He’s a magnificent actor with untapped potential. He killed his role better than most. As a comic relief, he is a natural compared to influencer-turn-actor Lizzy Jay.
Generally, the ladies ran the show while their male counterparts were mostly on the back pedal. Yvonne Jegede owned Shalewa and so did Funlola owned her Folashade character. I particularly feel the movie wasted Ibrahim Chattah’s talent.
While the movie was intended to appeal to a wide audience, it would have been nice to have a little indigenous Yoruba of the Oyos in the movie. Perhaps I didn’t notice 🤔
It was noticeable a few times that the location sound wasn’t good at times and had to be masked with music. That shouldn’t even be an excuse in this age of the Nigerian film industry. The score generally would have done better with an upgrade.
With so many interwoven stories, it was always going to be a case of abandonment down the line which was the case:
… and I could go on and on.
Adire is a tiring watch but a fair one at that. Sorry, I need to talk to my baby girl now. Till next time.
A storyteller and film enthusiast. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @ebakintunde, make we relate further.