Yemi Filmboy Morafa’s “The Party” Fruitlessly Continues Old Nollywood Storytelling Pattern

Old Nollywood films have been casually and seriously discussed as having storytelling and technical dents. In their volume, these films flooded the Nigerian film market (courtesy of Alaba International Market, Ebinpejo Lane  in Idumota Lagos, Iweka Road in Onitsha and Pound Road in Aba) and helped curate the taste buds of the Nigerian audience. Although the pioneering filmmakers have been harshly criticized for their propensity for exaggerating and stretching a film beyond necessary, they created a consumption and filmmaking pattern that exists till date. In films like Dumebi the Dirty Girl, Domitila, Abuja Connection, Alakada, Jenifa and others, the Nigerian audiences are inundated with countless scenes, dialogues and characters that add nothing narratively substantial. Despite this cinematic flaw, Nigerians still obsessively and religiously watch and discuss these films. The towering positive responses and trivial pushback contributed to the rise of unjustifiable sequels and parts.  

Thus from the late 2000s till now, the industry has been enveloped in its sequels-upon-sequels frenzy. And, unsurprisingly, the audience keeps loving them because the industry has conditioned their tastebuds. It’s this hole-ridden tradition of labouring films or series with inconsequential scenes, dialogues and characters that completely tarnishes the image of Yemi Filmboy Morafa’s The Party, a limited series streaming on Netflix. In continuing this Old Nollywood tradition, Morafa’s series shows how steep New Nollywood is in Old Nollywood despite its supposed growth. And as Nigerian filmmaker, Dika Ofoma has repeatedly shown with A Japa Tale, The Way Things Happen, A Quiet Monday and God’s Wife returning to Old Nollywood’s storytelling root of excessive exposition, dialogue and characters isn’t the problem. The problem lies in executing them within the framework of the director’s style and the film’s vision. But, all these are missing in Morafa’s whodunit. 

The Party literally starts with a party scene. Bobo (Kunle Remi), the sole child of his parents, who is celebrating his birthday, will soon meet a tragic end. That tragic end will set off the series on a deeply convoluted journey as these police officers Etim (Kelechi Udegbe), Habiba (Eva Ibiam), and Moshood (Yomi Fah-Lanso) try tracking Bobo’s murderer. Following the classical whodunit tradition, the series lines suspects and their motives: John Paul (Uzor Arukwe) and Martins (Ayoola Ayolola), his friends, Motunrayo (Kehinde Bankole), his wife, and Chief Akintunde (Bimbo Manuel) and Chief Mrs Mojoyin (Shaffy Bello), his parents. Each suspect has motives. But, as the series continues, one will detect, unlike the clueless and unprofessional detectives in this series, their motives are just Trojan horses towards revealing supposed earth-shattering secrets. The secrets include Bobo’s pedophilia and cheating acts, his friends’ disregard for women and Chief Akintunde’s 20-year secret family. Done well, these revealed secrets are recipes for an emotionally and intellectually engaging whodunit drama. But, here it drastically falls. 

Bobo is the surface-level victim in The Party. But, in reality, the victims are the women in Bobo’s life. From his mother, wife, teenage lover and sexual partner. Officer Moshood’s biased and misogynistic investigative approach frames Motunrayo as the murder without conclusive investigation. Officer Moshood’s unprofessional work ethics is instructive on how misogynistic ideas and perception slips into the daily acts of custodian of justice. That Chief Akintunde secretly has a family outside is a rude slap on Chief Mrs Mojoyin. Lastly, Bobo’s sexual acts with a teenager is telling. 

Having recently rewatched the John Wick franchise and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, there are editing lessons that the patient Nollywood film editor, writer and director can pick. Though filled with fluffy fight scenes, the John Wick franchise knows when to rein in its excesses from spilling into boredom and repetitive performances. Though these fight scenes reiterate the franchise’s signature octane action scenes, they also show the story of a man moving towards a dream and trying to carve whatever identity he deems it for himself. Ditto Sinners, There is a recently released video of deleted scenes from the film. But, for patient viewers, those scenes weren’t deleted as they were skilfully tucked into the film ensuring a more compacted and forceful emotional resonance. And this is what The Party doesn’t have. Like most mainstream Nollywood films and series, it isn’t an objectively bad series, it’s also not objectively good