MOVIE: A Tribe Called Judah

Took me long enough to see this. I almost lost interest. Glad I didn’t.

Oya. "A Tribe Called Judah" takes you on a rollercoaster ride through a Nigerian storytelling, weaving a tale that's part drama, part comedy, some tragedy and a whole lot of unpredictability. It’s got more twists and turns than a Nigerian marketplace on a bustling Saturday morning.

Let's dive into the performances, shall we? The cast's chemistry is so palpable, you'd think they've at least been friends for years. Cos as ridiculous as it is to even imagine that motley crew as brothers?

It kinda works. JKA’s acting is still pretty good and Timini gave that role all it needed. The rest were good too but in MY opinion? None more than “Ejiro and Testimony”. Look. Olumide Oworu is infuriating as Ejiro but you cannot for a second not feel sorry for the simpleton. And his paramour, Testimony? Mannnn… she might make you mad. But you will lowkey be like “now that is LOVE!” Lol!

That Genoveva babe is doing a madness these days.

The mix of personalities is also very interesting, the brothers are so distinct.

An honest and upright sales rep

An honest security guard

An aspiring hoodlum

A thief

And a childlike, hopelessly in love painter who has the makings of a con man.

It’s hard to do this without dropping spoilers and the only reason I am doing it is because I know too many people who have not yet seen it and it’s a unfair thing to do to a movie coming from our fledgling stables.

Anyway this is a movie that is about the bonds of family, a comedy, a heist movie a bit of a love story and a tragedy and believe it or not? It pulls it off!

Funke Akindele manages to keep it lighthearted while showing the consequences of bad behavior, she does not try to make the whole situation look pretty either. She makes us all sigh as we accept that it is what it is. This is a great show of directorial ability. She shows us bare emotion and pain and suddenly changes themes without sacrificing either. Not an easy thing to do.

I ESPECIALLY like how every son’s father is of a different ethnicity from the other and each son brought strong elements of each ethnicity, complete with stereotypical flaws to their characters. I would have never expected that. The one that spoke a lot of Hausa was a bit extra sha. But meh.

There were some rough edges though. But they were so minor that even I, with my pedantic self am willing to skip that.

The soundtrack left much to be desired. It really wasn’t even there for me. It was however nicely offset by great cinematography. Really good work. The fight scenes were better than the usual fare and the gunplay didn’t sound like New Years Eve.

I also was not a big fan of Funke Adeleke’s makeup. No. Nope.

But all in all? This is one of the BEST things out of Nollywood and is DEFINITELY worth your time.

And this is the LAST time I do a movie review with no spoilers. Ugh.

It’s like dancing with my shoelaces tied together.

Thanks for reading this. I really do appreciate it. Please feel free to share, subscribe (it’s free) AND leave a comment. Thanks again. 🙏🏾