My Father's shadow

My Father’s Shadow is not your regular Nollywood film at all. This is the kind of movie you watch and immediately realize the director was trying to create art, not just entertainment. The movie is poetic, symbolic, emotional, and honestly a little confusing at first — but that is exactly what makes it beautiful. It follows two brothers moving through Lagos with their father during the tense 1993 election crisis in Nigeria, but the story is deeper than just the plot itself. The film plays a lot with memory, emotions, trauma, flashbacks, hallucination-like scenes, silence, and symbolism. Sometimes you do not even know whether what you are watching is real, a memory, or a feeling. It feels like reading literature instead of watching a movie. This is the kind of film people who love poetry, deep writing, cinematography, and artistic storytelling would genuinely appreciate. The cinematography is insane. Every scene looks intentional. The sound design, the music, the camera angles — everything works together to create this haunting, dream-like atmosphere. You can actually see why it dominated the AMVCA awards this year. But I will be honest: this is not a movie for everybody. If you are looking for fast action, loud drama, or the usual commercial Nollywood style, you might not enjoy it. The pacing is slow and the storytelling is very layered. The movie expects you to think, observe, and interpret things for yourself. And honestly, that is what makes it stand out. My Father’s Shadow feels like the kind of film that will be studied in film schools someday because it treats cinema like art. It is one of those movies that stay in your head long after you finish watching it. Definitely worth watching, especially if you enjoy artistic films that make you feel something rather than just entertain you.