Movie Review: Seven Doors

If the Naija music industry is putting the country and Africa on a global map with sublime deliveries of top notch songs that has seen various countries rave about Afrobeats, then it’s safe to say that a movie like Seven doors produced by the ever impressive Femi Adebayo has done nothing but etch Nollywood a step closer to more global appeal and recognition.

The lead who also went on to make his directorial debut with the movie thoroughly outdid himself with the “near real-life” masterpiece that had over a thousand persons in cast and crew. Without doubt, his previous movie JagunJagun was decent, but Seven doors is a notch above, and once again from the stables of Femi, our eyes are blessed to espy this magical and intentional work of art.

A lot of things stood out for me in Seven doors. The squealer opening scene which saw seven women fall of a cliff in a somewhat devastating manner, and from there on we all got glued to our screens, licking and smacking our lips, in between running our mouths in commentary and prognostication of what’s to come. It ended up being a super watch, and that’s simply putting it mildly.

The movie which I’d call a blend of epic cum drama tells a clear cut story of Culture, love, royalty, betrayal, corruption, and in some way how long-standing family curses can come back to haunt the unsuspecting children.

Femi Adebayo ensured that the plot didn’t stray off it’s radar, telling this story of a pious monarch who is left with little or no choice but to atone for the sins of his forefathers by marrying seven (7) wives_ with every details while also creating a window for humour and relief in between.

From the rustic setting, the props, costumes, a SFX make-up to die for, and top tier characters such as Chioma Akpotha, Jide Kosoko, Muyiwa Ademola, Adebayo Salami, Gabriel Afolayan, Dele Odule etc, It was an absolute pleasure to the sights. Everyone on the project practically checked into their arsenals to shoot this one, and it’s no surprise that it made for a satisfying watch.

However, I do have my reservations here and there. In some ways, it feels as though the story digressed ever so slightly at a point where “Oba Adedunjoye” (Femi Adebayo) eventually married seven wives as instructed and had to subsequently square up in battle against “Esusu” (the villain) for tranquility to return to his land. The quizzers here are; what if he didn’t exactly need to marry seven wives?, what if the problem wasn’t about his forefathers sacrificing seven wives?, what if the problem has been “Esusu” all along? What if he got the ancestral gun earlier to kill “Esusu” right after he killed his daughter?. But guess we’d never know how a problem gets solved if we haven’t been in a similar one.

Well, these are just mere hypothetical questions prolly not begging for answers, and the events leading up to these openings made the movie, albeit a series but still dragged a tad bit. But take nothing away from this work of art, it’s pristine.

On a parting shot, Seven doors might have had its slits in a castle wall with continuity glitch and a few oversights here and there, but given there’s no perfect work of art, we’d let those tiny bits slide. For me, I’d give this work a solid 8.5/10.