Òlòtūré [Review]
Òlòtūré [meaning Endurance] is a film about a young female journalist who goes undercover as a prostitute in order to expose the realities of human trafficking in Nigeria.
Set in Lagos, Nigeria, Òlòtūré is part of Netflix’s partnership with Mo Abudu and her production company, Ebonylife. The title was launched globally on October 2nd, 2020.
Directed by Kenneth Gyang, the film stars Sharon Ooja, Blossom Chukwujekwu, Segun Arinze, Yemi Solade, Wofai Fada, Omowunmi Dada, Omoni Oboli, Lala Akindoju, Bukola Oladipupo, Beverly Osu, Patrick Doyle, Sambasa Nzeribe, and Omawumi, amongst others.
What I liked
The locations/cinematography:
- The bridge scenes in the beginning of the movie as Òlòtūré escaped from the whore house.
- Lekki arts market where Òlòtūré met Madam Alero for the first time.
- The use of Nigerian Railway Compound as the home of the prostitutes.
- The transformation of Eko Atlantic into the Seme border.
Attention to detail:
- Music — My favourites were, the music from the party where Òlòtūré met Sir Phillip [I think it was a song by Victor Olaiya] and the Falz song [I believe it was Hypocrite from Moral Instruction] playing in the car while she was speaking to Chuks about her ordeal with Sir Phillip. Here’s a track list for anyone who also enjoyed the music from the film.
- Background settings eg Bras hanging in the prostitute’s quarters.
- Costume/Makeup — Blossom looked like the boring journalist he was, the prostitutes also looked the part and Bukola, she looked really different, like the local village girl she was portrayed to be, a huge contrast to her other fabulous characters.
Casting:
- The movie showed Sharon Ooja in a different light. It was quite a challenging role but she managed to pull it off.
- Beverly Osu didn't speak throughout the movie but she was noticed. Her facial expressions did the work and her role in the movie is a worthy mention as far as I’m concerned.
- Bukola Oladipupo — fantastic actresses with a lot of depth. Did you notice how her character fainted at the sight of her sister’s murder? Fantastic work.
- Officially declaring my love for Sambasa Nzeribe to the public. My favourite Nollywood thug!
The loopholes
You can tell the focus of the story wasn’t on prostitution but on Òlòtūré, however we really didn’t know who she was or the motivation behind the choice of story. How did she get herself into the prostitute circles in the first place? Was it easy/difficult?
We would have loved to know the plight of the other girls, what led them to prostitution? They made an attempt to show of a glimpse of Linda’s life, bringing the “Bini girls love Europe” stereotype into it but it was short lived. I also didn’t understand why Linda brought her sister into the trade 😭.
This is my main issue with Nollywood movies — the lack of focus. I liked how realistic it was, but it felt like we were hoping for a lot of things that did not happen. Did they want a movie about a journalist going undercover or one exposing prostitution? I think I’d have preferred the story if the journalist wasn’t undercover. It would have been more focused with a real prostitute as the main subject of the film. If they really wanted to tell that prostitute story they should have gone all out.
Òlòtūré really went in clueless. How do you go undercover as an ashawo [a prostitute] and think you can manoeuvre your way out of having sex with “customers”? You cannot go to such a place with zero skills and expect to come out alive. She took a huge risk by going undercover all by herself as a journalist with no support from law enforcement, or any backing at all. There was no escape plan, in fact, no plan at all. The truth is, we don’t have any daring journalists like this in Nigeria [except Fisayo Soyombo of course].
Her vulnerability and lack of preparation eventually caught up with her when she was sexually assaulted by Sir Phillip [a disgusting way to learn a lesson]. As Chuks said, “anything wey big man do you, you suppose take am as experience” and that’s the sad reality! It is a tough climate for women in general and it’s even more difficult for prostitutes to get justice for rape, especially when dealing with men with money and power.
Definitely a lot of loose ends, and parts missing. I think they might address that in a sequel, OR NOT! The film was not too long, it ended before I knew it. Although it seemed kind of rushed I also don’t think it needed to be longer than it was. In my opinion, there is no need for a sequel. It was a perfect ending to such an ambitious movie — not a happy one, but these things don’t always end happy in real life. If they are going to make a second part, they will have to show us exactly how they got to Italy, the life there and maybe Òlòtūré finding her way back home, but it will need to be done well, like really well!
Also, they tried to make a case for the rise of social media and how Chuks lost his job as a pimp to Madam Alero, but it didn’t really fit it in!
Daring movie from the Ebonylife team though. They usually do comedies but this is daring and we would like to see more of these types of stories, shedding light on important issues.
Notable scene — where Linda was “butchered”. I enjoyed seeing the reactions from all the characters and it felt so real!
I’ll rate the movie 6/10. It’s got a lot of potential, it just needs a bit more fleshing out so yes, do watch the film.
