Filmmaking in Nigeria is constantly evolving, as Nollywood filmmakers now have the urge to try out forms that have not been previously given serious attention. First, wittingly or unwittingly, these filmmakers work towards redeeming what used to be a poor image of the industry as the dumping ground for headless stories, pitiable aesthetics or both. Secondly, modern Nigerian filmmakers—indie and mainstream—are now prioritizing both quantity and quality with well defined voices and styles that differ from the old taste. There is Kunle Afolayan who has mastered the mystery genre and maintained excellent production values ahead of his contemporaries in films like The Figurine (2009) and October 1 (2014). Kenneth Gyang also normalized the use of dark comedy on a grand scale with Confusion Na Wa (2013) and revived the new tradition in This Is Lagos (2023). Some present-day storylines still can’t help themselves, but the films make up for lost ground in aesthetics. It’s becoming less cumbersome to separate chaff from grain.
Anthill Studios, under the leadership of Niyi Akinmolayan, has lately been testing waters with the meticulous use of technology in Nollywood in addition to storytelling. We see this in The House of Secrets (2023) where the black-and-white monochrome comes to play and Mikolo (2023) which uses CGI to enliven animated characters. CGI artist Davies David Enioluwa, a product of Anthill Studios, created Ogundiji’s mansion in Femi Adebayo’s Jagun Jagun (2023).
Anthill’s Casa De Novia, produced by Victoria Akunjubi and directed by Uyoyou Adia, adopts computer-generated imagery (CGI) to trick the imagination and distort reality. Besides the technology, the film makes an unusual Nollywood whole with its cross-genre approach involving horror, comedy and fantasy. It follows the story of Yoyo, an investigative journalist who secures a new apartment that turns out to be haunted by the ghost of Efosa, a businessman and an heir to the Igbinovia empire. Yoyo forms a relationship with Efosa’s ghost, which helps to demystify his death.
The film begins with a scene of Efosa dying while making proposal preparations for his fiancee. Then, the main attention settles on Yoyo. We learn that Yoyo, the lead character and narrator, is a bumbling figure, often making the wrong decisions or getting into trouble. Her house hunting experience is spiced with humor as she meets seemingly dubious agents that introduce her to apartments that do not match her taste. While rushing down to work for a presentation, she arrives with her pants torn and top stained. Her defense at work comes off as ridiculous.
Humor, as if on autopilot, moves on a steady pace in the story, often driven to an ironic or laughable distance. There’s the irony of Yoyo getting along with her nerdy colleague, Ancel Peters, whom she considers annoying, whereas her crush Femi repays her amorous gestures with insincerity. But, perhaps, the most visible use of humor lies in Yoyo’s encounters with Efosa’s ghost. While spirits and other supernatural beings are generally believed to possess greater knowledge of the world than mortals, the reverse applies in the film. Efosa’s ghost is ignorant of his death until Yoyo lets him know. The ignorance is even a bit more annoying when the ghost wrongly accuses and assaults his brother, Esosa, for his murder. In a surprising twist at the end, the ghost possesses Ancel’s body and identifies Efosa’s revenge-motivated murderer—Efosa’s girlfriend, Melina. We do not know what made the previously ignorant ghost suddenly knowledgeable about the killer’s identity.
In Casa De Novia, fantasy meets reality. Yoyo is the bridge for seamless connection. The depiction of a haunted house, a building that is often perceived as inhabited by a wandering, disembodied spirit of the deceased, is rooted in several traditions. Folkloric beliefs uphold that ghosts exist, appear as apparitions, and are able to interfere in human affairs and influence human actions. Though such beliefs are often doubted and theorized as hoaxes and hallucinations, they are strong in contemporary African cultures. In the film, we learn that Efosa’s ghost is trapped in the house because the body is hidden and unburied. The burial of the corpse is significant to the emancipation of the ghost. It is when the deceased really rests in peace.
While the film is not your regular type of horror, it incorporates elements of the genre. One is the sense of apprehension, which is mostly achieved through CGI. This technology is responsible for Efosa’s apparition in the mirror. When Yoyo returns to her haunted home to get evidence of the ghost for her boss, she first imagines that a mysterious gigantic snake wraps itself around her and pulls her into the house—an imagination enlivened in a few seconds of special effects. Scenes of manipulated objects in the haunted house cannot be overlooked. Then, there’s that early scene of Yoyo swiftly imagining her boss setting her ablaze for ruining the company’s chances for a mouthwatering offer.
Another mildly used element, suspense, keeps the viewers interested in getting to the root of the ghost house. From being Yoyo’s story, the film segues into the mystery of Efosa’s death until the truth is unpeeled. But then, the film does not go overboard with its horror-esque approach since it aims to tickle more, and not induce dread. Thanks to the audio post-production team led by Adam Songbird and Tolu Obanro, the sound design and soundtrack feel at home.
You cannot deny that Casa De Novia is a mildly ambitious project, another Anthill’s attempt at elevating Nollywood stories with the use of technology. But then, the film, like previous conquests of the production studio, appears to be intoxicated by its structural and aesthetic wanderings where it finds domestic glory, without caring about the strength of its narrative content and global appeal.
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