This is possibly the best movie out of Nollywood. Actually, I am quite certain that this is the best movie you have ever watched out of Nollywood. This movie has a certain lightness to it while addressing serious issues. It is a coming of age movie about a young girl (Blessing) who is somewhat of a boxing prodigy (Knockout). In all seriousness, the title is so simplistic it’s brilliant.
The movie follows our protagonist (Ade Laoye as Blessing) on her quest to achieve boxing fame with the help of her two companions who are courtesans (Linda Ejiofor and Meg Otanwa). The movie is in installments of parts; very Quentin Tarantino-esque, with each part giving clarity on the plot of the movie. The movie is politically themed, but not in an overbearing manner. A compromising video of the president has been discovered and is being used as a tool of blackmail, however we do not see the actual contents of the video till the end.
Until the last 20 or so minutes of the movie, the audience is left wondering what Blessing and her gang have to do with the compromising video of the president that that was brought up in one of the opening scenes. Blessing is a young girl who was raised by her grandfather; he was a boxer and taught his grand-daughter the sport. The movie uses flashbacks tastefully and sometimes you don’t realize they are flashbacks until the point of the flashbacks are made clear- case in point, the reason for antagonism towards Blessing by her peers in the village as well.
The dialogue of the movie is primarily pidgin English with some Yoruba incorporated into it. It was towards the end of the movie I realized that there were no overly done Western accents and that none of the primary characters were striving to be anything but their authentic Nigerian self. Acting in this movie is top notch and the comedic timing had me laughing till I hurt, and tears streamed down my eyes (thug tears only). Those boxing sound effects were very over the top and unrealistic which made it fun for me, but I understand the concept; a punch that can put somebody in a coma shouldn’t sound regular right? Blessing packs a mean right hand and she defeats all her enemies with one punch, this skill reminds me of a one of my favourite anime’s One Punch Man. No basic punches here.
The movie touches on issues such as sexual violence, the thin line between aspiration and greed (greed led them to Gowan to be honest. No rational person should want to rob him, he’s a mythical boogie man, except he’s not a myth he’s as real as the sun in the sky and the dirt on the ground), male entitlement, desperation as well as camaraderie that was seen between Blessing and these women that she did not know. It also touched on the multi-faceted complexity of human nature; the taxi driver helping Blessing but still charging her all the money she had to her name. I mean, business is business, right?
The president’s compromising video reminds me very much of the first episode of Netflix’s black mirror and it probably did draw some inspiration from there, but I am glad the writer put his own spin on it. Some people may not like how the movie ended and initially I was confused but on second thought, it leaves the end open for interpretation and it works just right. Dare Olaitan, I cannot say I had any issues with the content of this movie, or its actors and I honestly am pleasantly surprised. This movie has shown growth in directing and writing for Dare.
I believe this movie is not going to last long in cinemas so catch it on as soon as possible.
NB; you’d fall in love with Meg Otanwa’s pidgin.
10/10
R
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