From winning international recognitions, trending movies, albums and artistes of the year, one can say that the Nigerian entertainment industry had a good run in 2022. As the year comes to an end, Weekend Magazine highlights the top movies that rocked the screen in the year.
Below are the top Nollywood, Kannywood-rated movies of 2022:
The Man of God
The Man of God, directed by Bolanle Austen Peters, features a young man, Sam (Akah Nnani), as he grapples with the harsh realities of trying to live a life of faith in the face of numerous forces vying for his soul.
In the first 24 hours after its debut on April 14, 2022, the movie topped the charts in Nigeria. It was also one of the top 10 movies on Netflix in a number of other nations, including the US and Canada.
Other Nollywood celebrities who appear in it include Olumide Oworu, Mawuli Gavor, Eucharia Anunobi, Atlanta Bridget Johnson, Prince Nelson Enwerem and Osas Ighodaro.
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Blood Sisters
In 2022, Netflix users rated Blood Sisters as the best Nollywood series. In the thriller, Kemi and Sarah, two best friends, who killed a man in self-defence, turn into fugitives. The victim’s family wants them killed, and unfortunately, they have enough clout to persuade the authorities to administer justice in their favour.
The four-episode series continues to be talked about weeks after its formal debut on May 5, 2022, especially in light of its groundbreaking achievements, such as Blood Sisters becoming the first original Nigerian series on Netflix. The series had over 11 million views in just six days and topped the charts in over 31 countries, including Belgium, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Japan, Canada and the United States. It was also featured on Variety.
Veteran performers including Kate Henshaw, Ramsey Nouah, Uche Jumbo and Segun Arinze appear in the film. Ini-Dima Okojie and Nancy Isime play the key roles and Mo Abudu is the producer.
Elesin Oba: The King’s Horseman
Based on the historical story of Elesin Oba, the Yoruba king’s horseman, the tragic play, Death and the King’s Horseman, by Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, depicts the traditional beliefs and views on life and death by the Yoruba people of Nigeria.
The play serves as the inspiration for Netflix’ original movie, Elesin Oba: The King’s Horseman, helmed by Biyi Bandele. The film depicts Elesin Oba’s actual experiences in 1943 Nigeria under British administration. Elesin Oba plans to ritually kill himself in order to escort the deceased king to his forefathers in the hereafter. Odunlade Adekola plays the lead role.
Aisha
Aisha is presently the biggest Kannywood grosser of all time, with a net gross of. 5m in Bayero Mall Cinema, Kano, alone. It was produced by Abubakar Bashir Maishadda and directed by a veteran, Hafiz Bello.
The movie is centred on youthful exuberance and excesses, rape, drug addiction and the rest in a university setting.
The lead actor, Amal Umar (Aisha), is a poor student whose father, Nura Hussein (Malam Balarabe), is doing his best to make sure she goes to school. She is later raped and dumped by group of bad students.
Meanwhile, the school’s management is more concerned about the school so much so that they embark on a journey of ensuring the news doesn’t go out of the four corners of the university. They connive with the police in charge of the case, SP Audu Makera (Adam A. Zango), and a doctor, (Abba El-Mustapha), to bury the story.
The parents then embark on a journey of seeking justice for their daughter with the support of people that protest on her behalf.
The movie also casts Nollywood’s veteran actor, Kanayo O. Kanayo, and was premiered in July, 2022, at Film House, Kano.
Lamba
Lamba is a blockbuster movie by Maishadda Global Resources Limited produced by Abubakar Bashir Maishadda and directed by Ali Gumzak.
The movie is a comedy aimed at addressing the social problem of how people are living fake lives on social media. It features young men, Adam Zango, Ado Gwanja and Umar Shariff, who are poor and trying to make ends meet by doing menial jobs such as car washing, but living fake lives on social media to impress girls by hiring cars and clothes. Incidentally, the girls are also living fake lives by borrowing clothes to take good photographs to upload on social media.
The movie premiered on January 28, 2022, at Film House, Kano, and grossed N5,252,550.
Nadiya
Nadiya is a movie produced by Rahama Sadau after the successes she recorded from Rariya, Mati da Lado and Mati a Zazzau and directed by Yaseen Auwal. The movie premiered on February 18, 2022.
The movie is about Rahama Sadau (Nadiya) who is a spoilt child that is pampered by father, Rabiu Rikadawa, who gives her everything and does all she wants and goes to the extent of divorcing her mother because of her.
She gets married to Umar M. Shareed who immediately after their wedding starts discovering many bad things about her, ranging from the fact that she can’t cook, she doesn’t know how to pray and doesn’t know how to take ritual baths.
Anikulapo
Among the Nollywood movies on Netflix, Anikulapo is the most talked-about. The Kunle Afolayan film portrays a tale of love, loss and betrayal.
Saro, a less-than-innocent wanderer, commits a preventable murder by sleeping with the king’s wife, Queen Arolake, and is killed. However, he is granted a second chance at life when a mysterious bird named Akala wakes him from the dead and grants him the ability to raise the dead, making him a powerful and well-liked man in town.
Will Saro remain loyal to Arolake and the source of his strength or will he misuse his influence and desert his cherished?
Kunle Remi, Bimbo Ademoye, Sola Sobowale, Taiwo Hassan, Fathia Balogin, and Oga Bello are just a few of the well-known Nollywood actors who appear in Anikulapo. The most recent accomplishment for the movie was its ranking in the top 10 trending Netflix movies in the United Kingdom. The movie gained popularity in several nations.
Lady Buckit & the Motley Mopsters
For the Nigerian film business, this movie is a game-changer. Lady Buckit & the Motley Mopsters is Nigeria’s first animated feature. The narrative of the cinematic full-length film centres on a young woman whose parents’ bakery was shut down in 1956. She wishes to travel back in time to effect a change, but instead wakes up in the future. She will be living as a “bucket” in the future. The motion picture was directed by Adebisi Adetayo.
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