Critical review of the Yoruba Movie ETOMI (2025) starring Odunlade Adekola and Kola Ajeyemi. Detailed analysis of the plot, pacing issues, character betrayal, 5M naira ransom plot, and spiritual themes.
Introduction: The Setup That Promised Gold
"ETOMI," featuring Nollywood heavyweight Odunlade Adekola alongside Kola Ajeyemi, Madam Saje, and Adetutu Balogun, directed by Tunde Komolafe, arrives with the star power to deliver a gripping crime-drama rooted in family betrayal. The premise is compelling: a successful middle-class family is ripped apart by a seemingly random, escalating blackmail plot, revealing deep, painful secrets from the husband’s past.
The film's central conflict—a demand for an initial N5 million ransom that quickly jumps to an outrageous N15 million—should be a pulse-pounding thriller. Instead, this 108-minute (1 hour, 48 minutes, 51 seconds) epic from LibraTv often substitutes raw, cinematic tension for drawn-out, repetitive domestic arguments and excessive spiritual counseling.
Overall Score: ........ (2/5 Stars) The potential for a sharp psychological thriller is dulled by sluggish pacing and over-reliance on spiritual tropes, rendering the central conflict more exhausting than exhilarating.
Plot, Pacing, and Screenplay Analysis: The Drag of Domesticity
The plot of ETOMI centres on a seemingly comfortable family man (played by Adekola) whose wife begins to receive anonymous letters demanding large sums of money. The initial request for N5 million is met with confusion and panic. The stakes are raised exponentially when the demand is tripled to N15 million as a form of escalating psychological torture.
The Failure of Pacing
The film's most critical flaw is its glacial pacing. A 108-minute runtime for a straight-to-DVD/YouTube movie demands ruthless editing, yet ETOMI seems determined to showcase every argument, every visit to a religious leader, and every phone call in its entirety.
Repetitive Dialogue: The couple's arguments are circular (e.g., "Calm down, babe!" followed by "I am tired!"), failing to advance the plot but succeeding only in exhausting the viewer. The key scene where the husband and wife debate reporting the blackmail to the police is powerful but is diluted by being sandwiched between two unnecessary "calm down" sequences.
The Prayer Padding: The use of the pastor and the church as a narrative device, typical of Yoruba cinema, feels excessive here. While spirituality is a key cultural theme, the numerous, protracted scenes of counseling and prayer feel like padding to meet a target runtime rather than crucial plot developments. The focus shifts from the thrilling tension of the blackmail to the melodramatic crisis of faith.
The Earned Emotional Beats
The screenplay only truly excels in the moments where the past violently intersects with the present. The reveal of a former partner and a desperate past mistake (including suggestions of unfaithfulness and an attempted abortion) finally explains the source of the blackmail and provides the necessary motivation for the villain. This moment is tragically powerful, yet it is introduced far too late, leaving the first hour frustratingly ambiguous.
Character Development & Performance Critique
The film relies heavily on the star power of its cast, but inconsistent writing hinders several key performances.
Odunlade Adekola: The Frustrated Husband
Odunlade Adekola delivers a solid performance as the tormented patriarch, but he's given little room to breathe.
The Conflict: Adekola’s strength lies in portraying the transition from an overtly angry, defensive husband (the early domestic squabbles) to a terrified man forced to confront a long-buried secret. The scene where he is forced to apologize to his child after a tense phone call is a moment of genuine, raw acting.
The Weakness: However, the script keeps him oscillating between a raging brute and a panicked victim. The complexity of a character trying to protect his current family while being haunted by a past betrayal is simplified into bursts of predictable anger.
The Lead Female Character: The Burden of Panic
The lead actress (Adetutu Balogun) is tasked with embodying the fear and frustration caused by the blackmail.
The Intensity: She convincingly portrays the sheer terror of receiving the ransom letters and the subsequent emotional breakdown. Her panic is a central driver of the film's drama.
The Monotony: The performance suffers from a lack of emotional range beyond acute distress. The consistent high level of anxiety makes her panic monotonous, failing to generate dynamic tension as the demands escalate from N5M to N15M.
Kola Ajeyemi and Madam Saje
The supporting cast, particularly Kola Ajeyemi, provide competent but ultimately undeveloped roles. Ajeyemi's role in the police investigation is procedural, while Madam Saje’s appearances are primarily confined to the spiritual subplot, reinforcing the cultural trope without offering unique character insight.
Technical & Production Value: Budgetary Constraints Show
While Nollywood's production quality continues to improve, ETOMI often betrays its budgetary constraints, particularly in the post-production phase.
Cinematography: The daytime exterior shots are competent, utilizing natural light effectively. However, interior scenes, especially those filmed in the family home, suffer from flat, uninventive lighting, washing out the colours and flattening the sense of dread.
Sound Design & Score: The sound design is a major distraction. Dialogue mixing is inconsistent; some lines are too low, others blast out. Most damaging is the score, which relies on heavy, predictable, and repetitive orchestral stabs attempting to signal "tension," regardless of what is happening on screen. Instead of supporting the narrative, the music often overrides the emotional weight of the dialogue.
Editing: The editing choices contribute significantly to the pacing issue. Cuts are frequently held for too long on reaction shots, particularly during the domestic arguments, which kills momentum and underlines the script's need for more content.
Cultural and Thematic Context: Treading Familiar Ground
ETOMI tackles themes central to Yoruba cinema: the long shadow of past sin, the power of a woman scorned, and the reliance on spiritual intervention in a crisis.
Spiritual Trope Overload: The film adheres too strictly to the convention that every serious issue must be run through a pastor. While culturally resonant, the overuse of the spiritual element overshadows the very real-world consequences of the extortion plot, which could have provided a far more thrilling social commentary on Nigerian financial crime.
Betrayal: The flashback reveal concerning the past mistress and the consequences of the attempted abortion offers the film’s most potent thematic material. It reframes the blackmail as a specific, targeted act of vengeance, moving the story from a generic crime drama to a personal tragedy. This is the one instance where the film successfully leverages a familiar trope for a powerful emotional payoff.
My Verdict: A Marathon of Misery
ETOMI is a movie with a fantastic premise—a high-stakes game of blackmail and family breakdown—but it ultimately collapses under the weight of its own narrative choices. The strong performances from Odunlade Adekola are not enough to save the film from the deadly combination of overlong pacing and a bloated script that privileges talk over cinematic action. It is a cautionary tale about how unresolved past issues can destroy the present, but viewers may struggle to reach the moral lesson due to the exhausting journey.
If you are a die-hard fan of Odunlade Adekola and can tolerate slow, dialogue-heavy domestic drama, you might find merit in the final act's revelations. For those looking for the sharp, high-octane thriller the premise promises, however, this one is best left on the watchlist for a day when patience is abundant.
Call-to-Watch: Are you ready to endure the 108-minute emotional and spiritual rollercoaster of the Adekola family? You can find the full movie, ETOMI, on YouTube now, courtesy of LibraTv.
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