Son Of The Soil

Bluesky

Still a young industry despite its massive commercial success, Nollywood is only now at the point of reaching out to other continents with aims beyond pleasing the Nigerian expat population. The first of a series of planned Nigeria-UK co-productions, Son Of The Soil attempts to draw on the dynamism and distinctive character of Lagos to deliver an action thriller that will really get audience attention. Unfortunately it never succeeds in fully connecting with the city, nor in developing a story that we haven’t seen countless times before.

Razaaq Adoti (who also wrote the script) plays Zion, a former soldier who has apparently been living in the US for a number of years (though curiously he sounds more like someone from London). He returns to Lagos upon the death of his sister, whom we have seen in a prologue getting into trouble when she accidentally witnesses a killing in a hotel room. His mother (Patience Ozokwor) is concerned that he’s going to return to his shady past, with intimations of gang involvement, but he assures her he has left ‘that life’ behind. Given his apparent cluelessness when wandering the streets, where he dresses in a style guaranteed to get the attention of pickpockets and hustlers, one can believe it – in fact, it would be still easier to believe that he never lived that way in the first place. He does have contacts, however, and when they point him in the direction of his sister’s killers, it becomes clear that he’s not going to stop until he gets justice of some kind.

Another dead woman, another motivated but otherwise thinly drawn man less interesting than she might have been, given the chance. It’s not a promising start, and that’s a fair warning, given that every plot beat thereafter is strictly in accordance with the genre playbook. What’s more, Zion gives the impression of never having watched a film, as he fails to anticipate any of it. This does provide plenty of opportunities for action, which is where the film’s heart is, but although director Chee Keong Cheung knows what he’s doing, he lacks a good editor, so is unable to deliver anything on a par with his best work. As nobody involved has any special fighting skills (despite that supposed military past and another character’s interest in boxing), the combat scenes are ultimately rather ordinary.

There are bright spots, most notably Ijelu Folojimi as a small girl who hustles on the streets for a living and is by far the film’s shrewdest character. Without her allegiance, unwittingly paid for upfront in cash, Zion wouldn’t last long, and neither would viewers’ interest. She’s the only participant who really makes an effort to invest in character.

It’s a testament to the importance of this particular international partnership – and Chee’s skills as a producer – that the film is screening in cinemas at all. its narural home would seem to be as filler on a cable channel. Still, it’s good to see the Nigerian industry taking a step forward in terms of networking if not quality. It has produced better work than this, and perhaps that will now stand a better chance of being available in Europe.

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