Premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Camera d'Or, it's the first Nigerian film to make the official selection at Cannes. Nigerian cinema is such that it has its own name, that of Nollywood. However, Nollywood films rarely, if ever, catch on in the United States. Nollywood films can be streamed online in certain places, but none of them have gotten any kind of prestigious attention or awards consideration, until this one. Nigeria has submitted a few titles to the Academy Awards, but this one was submitted from the United Kingdom for Best International Feature. Its director and co-writer, Akinola Davies Jr., is both British and Nigerian. His film was nominated for 12 British Independent Film Awards where Davies Jr. won Best Director. His film was up for the BAFTA for Outstanding Debut, which Davies Jr. won. His film got 2 Gotham Award nominations where it won both. His film got an Oscar-qualifying, theatrical run in November, 2025, but its wide release didn't come till February 6, 2026.
Davies Jr. wrote this, his debut feature, with his brother, Wale Davies, and it's essentially a semi-autobiographical story. It's the Davies brothers reflecting on their childhood. Specifically, it's about two Nigerian boys during a summer day, spending time with their titular parent. At the same time, the boys are experiencing the fallout of the 1993 Nigerian presidential election, which was a very pivotal moment in modern-day Nigerian history. The film is told from a child's perspective, so there isn't too much understanding or even explanation of the politics. The boys' dad does explain certain things to them and even speaks about politics briefly, but it mainly passes over their heads.
Sope Dirisu (Mr. Malcolm's List and His House) stars as Folarin, a Nigerian man who is the parent to two young boys. His wife and children live in a ranch style or small, one-story house in the rural countryside. However, Folarin works in a factory in Lagos, the biggest city in Nigeria, which is hours away. He doesn't have a car because he can't afford one. He can't even afford a motorcycle, so he has to take the bus to get there. Traveling back-and-forth is a lot, so he stays in Lagos overnight for days, if not longer. It's not clear where he stays in Lagos, but he apparently grew up there and has connections that help him. However, when he comes home, he learns that his sons miss him and they're affected by him being absent.
On a day he has to go to Lagos in order to get his paycheck and especially get back pay that he hasn't gotten in six months, he decides to take his sons with him into the city. Once they get to the city, Folarin has to wait for his paycheck because his supervisor is out of the office, so he hangs out with his sons. He's mostly filling time, but it does give his boys a chance to ask him questions. In various ways, the film felt like a version of Aftersun (2022), except there was more of a sense of urgency, danger and greater significance here. Plus, Aftersun never brought me to tears, as this one did.
Godwin Chiemerie Egbo plays Akinola, the 8-year-old son to Folarin, and possibly the proxy for Davies, Jr. However, Chibuike Marvellous Egbo plays Olaremi or Remi, the 11-year-old son to Folarin. At one point, Folarin takes his sons to the beach for swimming and a game of Marco Polo. While they're resting on the sand, Remi asks his dad about why he's so absent and why they rarely see him, which goes into the origins of Remi's name. If one recalls the scene in the Oscar-winning Moonlight (2016) where Mahershala Ali's character takes the little boy to the beach, I was reminded of that beautiful moment, but it's somehow even more heartbreaking here. Mainly, it's due to Dirisu's performance, which is so incredibly good.
Like Aftersun, Davies Jr. shoots this feature using actual celluloid film. Aftersun used 35 mm stock, but Davies uses 16 mm. Both Aftersun and this film are set in the 90's. I'm not sure how much work was done in order to nail the production design to set us in that time, but the cinematography is such that it feels tactile and immersive, which works to set us in that time period as well. The filmmakers certainly maintain that child perspective and uses it to examine the man in question. The way Davies' camera stares at Dirisu at times like a child who is in awe, in fascination, in fear, in anger, and of course in love with their male parent, is perfect.
There are moments where the child's perspective is broken to briefly take us into the head of Folarin. It does provides us some insight, not a whole lot beyond what he believes fatherhood should be. Even though it's not a lot, this film provides more insight into the father than Aftersun did. I definitely want to see more from Davies Jr. and certainly more from Dirisu.
Rated PG-13 for alcohol, smoking and violence.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 34 mins.
Available on Mubi and VOD.
