[It took me this long to write about my honest observations in the movie because I wanted its essence to marinate in my mind without being affected by the raging hype.]

• PLOT:

The plot is an allegory, a broad metaphor, a dramatic representation of what Nigeria is. So many tribes are clustered into what we call Nigeria today and whether these tribes planned to be here or not, they must all find peaceful ways to co-exist. And how? The first is to recognize that they are united by a common goal, a common love.

The plot was masterfully divided and arranged to pass different messages and yet remain bound by one chain of long events filled with intense drama and twists and turns that will make you gasp.

• ACTING:

Each of the characters in this movie acted as if they were owing rent and so needed to give their A1 game to earn that money for it. Funke Akindele has always had top-notch acting in her movies; this time, it just came with an extra strength. Even the ones who made cameo appearances (a.k.a. waka pass) added giant doses of believability to their roles. There was no overacting, no forcing of comedy. It all happened naturally. Everybody said what was needed for the movie, and did what was needed for same.

Jide Kene became a personal breathing presence in our lives. Timini Egbuson broke the mold beyond the usual roles he is known for in Nollywood—and he ate up this particular role like he was starving. Etinosa was great. Yvonne Jegede too. And Boma. I actually fell in love with Uzee Usman.

Don't get me started on Uzor Arukwe and Nse Ikpe-Etim.

I mean, their acting was so real it had even the most stoic person in the cinema clapping in distress at the suspense points and sliding to the very edge of their seat. The actors had our hearts beating wildly, and also had us in stitches. And when they wanted us to sober up and even cry, we did without even knowing (at first) that that was their intention.

[My 'secret' toppest fave is Shinene!]

• CHARACTERIZATION:

At this point, I am thinking that Funke Akindele writes her stories or screenplays stories with specific people in mind for the roles. Every character in this movie ate up their role and left no crumbs. Every character fit their role. And the team found the most appropriate costumes and makeup for these portrayals. From the outlook of Daddy Michael in the early part of the movie, you would just conclude even before action what he most likely to do. Mama Caro's tight scarf and severe eyebrows already indicated to the studious watcher how much impact her role would leave on the plot of the movie. The mall guards couldn't have been played by another team. And Grandma was just perfectly attired.

All the Judah boys and even Jedidiah herself were accurately costumed and made up to accentuate their character. In the early part of the movie, when Shina appeared, I knew (even without leaning on the background hints in the scene) that he was going to be the most fiery and proactive of the boys. I also saw Pere and how slouchy his gait was and knew—just knew—that he was that kind of person that would do what he later did.

But do you know the crazy thing about these predictably presented and accurately roled characters? The unexpected arc of their development. Yes, that is a paradox, a clash of points, but you need to have seen how majority of these characters surprised everybody. Pere's development warmed everyone's heart. Emeka's character was so well written it embedded itself in our skin. Ejiro and Testimony were such influential characters that became both a household and a street mantra. Colette's character was tight. The character development of each character, I like how realistic it was. By the end of the movie, only very few of the characters remained who they presented as at the beginning of the movie. People like to create a fantastic bad-to-good arc, but in real life, it's not always that easy. Shina truly struggled. I particularly like how, from being upright, Adamu became dishonest.

[NB: Funke Akindele was supposed to be the lead character in this movie. Imagine our surprise then when she hardly had enough scenes or appearances, when the Judah boys instead had the floor to shine each in their unique way and become the talk of the audience instead. I find that very impressive.]

• STORYTELLING:

The story was in three unforgettable parts: the first introduced the Judah family and all their internal and external struggles. The second dropped us into a tragedy and a crazy bid to get out of it. Then the third had us praying for mercy for everyone.

I especially love how the story was able to say a lot of complex things in very simple, very cohesive ways. Kudos to the writers and the directors! Such a story could only thrive under very strict demands, and they did it.

If there is one thing about Funke Akindele's filmmaking pedigree, it has to be her hawk-eyed attention to details. From how the first four boys were able to speak their paternal languages to how Jedidiah herself was able to communicate fluently in Yorùbá to why they were followed at the river scene to how Itele's boys knew just where to wait and what to do to why it took them so long to run away and why the Libya story was believable to Chairman Chigozie to how Hilda was able to clock the plan in good faith—no stone was left uncovered. Even the bra Jedidiah wore was a separate actor on its own.

The settings and locations matched the story. The ghetto life was tastefully portrayed. Torture scenes were artistically gruesome. The costume party rocked so well that I wish they had given it more screen time. The props used (and ruined) in the movie—cars, trucks, machetes, canoes, guns, mall, broken mirror, Maruwa tricycles, cotton wool, rubber tires, kiosk, crisp dollar notes and Linda's peppers—all contributed beautifully to the story.

And the comedy was expertly done! It was so subtly thrown into the plot that, as you are crying or feeling bad or getting scared, you are also emitting short bursts of unexpected laughter.

The ending ran the risk of marring the final message of the entire carefully laid down show, but thank God they did not omit the most important detail. The second biggest lesson was well passed to all ages, and the ending was open-ended and yet well-wrapped enough for it to either have a sequel or not, and still we would be thoroughly satisfied with it. That's so so brilliant in a world of Nollywood movies that usually struggle with logical endings.

WHAT I LIKED:

— The sound, the soundtracks, the cinematography/picture, the costumes, the props, the makeup for wounds and diseases, and the seamless transitions and connections of the scenes.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:

• I felt that there was something unrealistically comical about the way Modupe died.

• A few of the scenes were left to the sharp imagination of the viewers and, if I had not paid close attention, I would have missed some very subtle clues.

• I want to believe they could have escaped in the cover of dark rather than the broad daylight they chose. 

• I can't say I disliked this last one, it just annoyed me (I think it was written that way to have that effect on the audience). And that was Testimony's sugary-love Gen Z whininess. It later proved to be a cover that belied her bravery in the movie anyway, so I still love her.

• SIDE COMMENTS:

— “A Tribe Called Judah” performed insanely better than Funke's former works at the Box Office. It crossed the former 600+ million naira records set with the movies “Omo Ghetto: The Saga” and “Battle on Buka Street” within fewer weeks than it took to set those other records in previous years.

— “A Tribe Called Judah” was directed by Funke Akindele (aka “Jenifa”) and Adeoluwa Owu (aka “Captain Degzy”) and produced by an independent movie/entertainment outfit, “FAAN” (Funke Ayotunde-Akindele Network), of which Funke Akindele is the Chief Executive Officer.

— A major writer of “A Tribe Called Judah” is Collins Okoh. Some of his previous works include “Omo Ghetto: The Saga”, formerly highest-grossing at the cinema, and “She Must Be Obeyed”, a Prime Video miniseries massively watched and loved.

— Long before “A Tribe Called Judah” was finally shot and released, he cast and crew of “A Tribe Called Judah” predicted that it would prove itself at the cinemas and hit the billion naira standard. There was even a hashtag then: #1BillyGeng. Their dream has come through with a lot of professional work, publicity, content and grace to crown it all.

— “A Tribe Called Judah” set the FASTEST BOX OFFICE RECORD to hit a billion naira and become the highest grossing movie in West Africa of all time. It smashed former records with a lot of gap. It id not stop there. It also set new records of challenge for the next movie that would seek to break this record.

— “A Tribe Called Judah” joined the list of top three highest-grossing Nollywood movies of all time, leading the other two with a wide margin, which were also produced by this same Funke Akindele.

— Watching “A Tribe Called Judah” at the cinema makes it even crazier to watch because there is no way you can escape the wild suspenseful scenes by fast-forwarding them. In a cinema, you have to sit through them and get a full experience of the movie.

— You will finish watching “A Tribe Called Judah” and complain that it was too short and this need to get more might tempt you to go back and watch again. I have watched it only twice, I know. But I know people in Lagos who went to watch four and five times. The rewatch value is tight, I give the filmmakers that.

— Funke Akindele dedicated the movie to her mother, Dr R.B. Adebanjo-Akindele, who passed on before the movie was produced. She did this to honor her mother's legacy of strength and motherhood. According to her, “My mother raised a queen.”

Funke Akindele also used the movie to celebrate single mothers maligned by a patriarchal and capitalist society.

• THE RATING:

This has to be Funke Akindele's best work so far, and I have to be honest and say I rate it 9.5/10 because of the sublime message of the story and how professionally it was laid out. For those of us that watched the movie and had our hearts broken, you know why I'm keeping the .5!