Battle on Buka Street — Review

Battle on Buka Street is a film centered around the rivalry between two wives in a polygamous family, and the dangerous lengths they go to in their unhealthy competition with one another.

The film which explores really important issues such as the dangers of polygamy, domestic violence and infidelity, features Funke Akindele, Mercy Johnson, Bimbo Ademoye, Nkem Owoh, Sola Sobowale, Tina Mba, and Femi Jacobs, amongst others.

What I liked

The first thing I really liked about this film was the cast. It was top tier because it was a nice mix of veterans and new kids on the block who gave a fantastic performance. My favourite characters were Kaiso and Kaira played by Miracle Gabriel and Gbemi Akinlade. They were the funniest characters in the film right from their costume, to their lollipops, to their facial expressions and their dialogue. They made me feel really proud of the young talent in Nollywood. Funke Akindele remains a fanastic actress and she can do no wrong in my eyes. I was really disappointed in Mercy Johnson’s performance — she’s such a great actress but I’m not sure why she feels like she needs to overperform.

I also really liked the narration in the beginning of the film. It gave us a nice background to what we were about to witness — the rivalry between Asake and Ezinne that is inevitably inherited by their daughters, Yejide and Awele, who are born on the same day.

What I didn’t like

Something I think they missed in the story was showing the friendship building between Awele and her neigbhour, Kareem. It felt like they just jumped straight into her complaining to him about her “battles”, after he brought her tomatoes and onions? I didn’t get that!

Also, I feel like they tried to piece too many stories together. We had the story of the rivalry between the mothers and daughters, then the story with their husbands, then the almost love story between Awele & Kareem, and Ifunaya & Akinzo, etc. It just felt like a lot and I believe they could have focused on one or two story angles that will come together nicely, i.e. the sibling rivalry, and then something else. I completely understand how they tried to make each person have a life, in order to explain where the bitterness comes from but it lacked focus in my opinion. And then the end was very flat, unsatisfying.

I had really high expectations for this film because it’s Funke Akindele and everything she touches is gold, BUT, my expectations fell flat. I enjoyed the drama, but it could have been better.

I’ll rate the film 5/10.

Battle on Buka Street is now available to watch on Amazon Prime.