₦airaland Forum

Wida you Nairaland. For this review, we will be traveling to the creeks of the Niger Delta and exploring themes of domestic abuse, militancy, strained familial relationships, manhood among others.

Hide your daddies ladies and gentlemen, because someone is trying to commit patricide. This one is quite the ride, so, I will start the boat now, and y'all can hop in while we sail the waters. Fear not, I already appeased the spirits of Oshimmiri with Fanta.

Title: Kill Boro

Cast:
Phillip Asaya
Ini-Dima Okojie
Kosiso Ogboruche
Greg Ojefua
Blessing Uzero
Beloved Osagie
Michael Dappa
Hilda Dokubo

Producers: Native Media
Director: Courage Obayuwana
Writer: Priye Diri
Where to Watch: Prime Video
Run Time: 2 hrs.

Synopsis:
A frustrated son, sets out to order a hit on his troubled father.

Review:

Like earlier stated, this movie is quite the ride, and I am particularly excited by it because it ticks a major box for me, as regards telling Nigerian stories outside of Lagos and Abuja. But Kill Boro is not brilliant because it took a road less traveled by being set in Niger Delta, rather, it is brilliant because it tells a simple, relatable story with an authenticity that is scarcely explored and tackles the complexity of a father-son relationship and the difficulties in being a man.

We are introduced first to the titular character, Boro (Asaya), a struggling mechanic, who's trying to stay out of the gangster life he retired from, despite entwining himself in some dangerous financial dealings. Boro wants to remain on the straight and narrow because he promised his wife he was never going back to that life, but times are hard and a man is also trying to survive. He is solicited by his ex-colleague in the militancy business, Jaguar (Yibokoko), to waive his debt in exchange for one last attack, Boro wants no parts though, and leaves with the noose that is his debt, tighter around his neck.

Next up, the man who will want him dead- or rather, boy, Elijah (Ogboruche), his son. Elijah is a pre-teen/teenage boy, who has found a father figure in Bossman (Ojefua) and a second family in fellow streetrunners, Lydia "Lyd" (Uzero) and Denzel (Dappa), both older, dread-wearing affiliates of Bossman. Together, they keep the streets free of miscreants and try to make Azuama, a little more habitable for its poor.

A honourable job it is, and Elijah is quite the smart and intelligent kid, despite dropping out of school because his father cannot afford fees. When Elijah isn't helping Bossman keep the streets clean, he's either with his good, female friend, Orabere (Osagie), or his mother, Boma (Okojie).

Elijah can't stand his father though. Boro returns home drunk and hits both he and his mother, he's a menace to them. Boro is a bad man, and after listening in on a conversation he really shouldn't have overheard, Elijah decides Boro has to die. Only problem is, who will bell the cat?

I really enjoyed this movie. I liked the introduction of conflict, I liked how the story was well told. I liked the humanity of the characters, the exploration of their flaws and imperfections. I enjoyed the acting performances from all the characters, especially the child actors, Kosiso Ogboruche (Elijah) and Beloved Osagie (Orabere), they held their own in a stellar lineup. Phillip Asaya was brilliant as a struggling father, Ini-Dima's portrayal of an understanding wife was quite possibly one of my favourite performances from her ever, and Ojefua as Bossman was tame and firm. Blessing Uzero brought a needed intensity to her performance as Lyd and even though Michael Dappa had fewer lines and appearances than the others mentioned, he held his own as Denzel, and looked absolutely gorgeous doing it. Michael, babe, call me

The cinematography was well done, I particularly like a scene where Elijah finally told Orabere of his plan to kill his father, with a church being the backdrop of this confession. The setting is in the city of Port Harcourt, the language used is a mixture of PH pidgin, English, Ijaw and Igbo.

One thing that probably made this movie so authentic, was that most of the key cast and crew were Niger Deltans. Someone mentioned some months back that she prefers when the actual Indigenes of a region tell their story, and I finally understood that sentiment with this movie. I compared it to another movie set in the Niger Delta with some cast and crew that weren't Indigenes of the region and found that Kill Boro had a little more soul to it, more authenticity and quite possibly, Niger Deltans will prefer this portrayal to the somewhat controversial one from the other movie (No, I will not mention it because we don't pit two bad beeches against each other )

But once again, I have to go back to the performances. Between the performances and the writing, I don't even know which most impressed me, but I suppose one needed the other to work. The vulnerability of the characters was beautifully done, the naivety of Elijah, even while he desperately wanted to be seen as the true protector of his family was well thought-out and portrayed, his grit was also interesting.

I don't think I have enough words to explain how much watching each of these characters felt like watching actual people we may have all encountered at various times in our lives. This is possibly the first movie I have seen in a long time, if ever, where, there was domestic violence and while I do not condone it, I understood the struggles of the character exerting it.

As with every production, not everything will go right, and there may be moments where you may just find yourself saying, "Why can't you people just tell this boy what's going on?", but when it's all done, you will realise that in real life, this is pretty much how he would have been handled.

This movie had so much heart and soul, it is a truly phenomenal movie that explores a theme that many men will possibly find kinship with. It is an authentically Nigerian story, with a universal message.

Shout out to the writer, Priye Diri and the director Courage Obayuwana. I hope to see a few people involved in this movie accepting an award in months to come. This is my favourite movie from Nollywood 2024 releases so far, and it can only get better.

It has been a long time since I had a different category for this in my movie reviews, but a line in this movie has stayed with me since I watched it, and it is an absolute quotable quote, so....

Quotable Quote: "Na Hard Times Dey Make Man Hard"- Pharmo, (Kill Boro)

Rating: 8.5/10

Watch or Bin: Watch.

Have you seen Kill Boro? What did you think of it?

Trailer:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvXDt3R5aS0

Cons

Chai..






I must watch this, nevertheless.







Just that, the word "kill" now seems institutionalized in Naijay-Area right now.

.

What a movie

Y

I hate reading shit

Hollywood still the best

Very interesting movie... The boy dead

It seems interesting.

I will try to see the movie

Just finished watching the film now and you are so right, authenticity at its best and I give it a 9/10

Trash

Is this movie about Isaac boro?

Bigsavior:
Cons

where can I download it?

Pootle:
Hollywood still the best

Well-done genius

Boro- or (Asaya as OP called him) is the most believable actor I've seen in a Nigerian movie in a looong while.

He emotes so well that, I understood every nuance of his feelings , just by watching him.

His wife! What an actress! what a woman!

Every part was well thought, the flow was seamless.... the cast were perfect for the role.

Because we know the tempo of the creeks, the movie hit the spot.

What a movie! What a script!

B

safarigirl:
One thing that probably made this movie so authentic, was that most of the key cast and crew were Niger Deltans. Someone mentioned some months back that she prefers when the actual Indigenes of a region tell their story, and I finally understood that sentiment with this movie. I compared it to another movie set in the Niger Delta with some cast and crew that weren't Indigenes of the region and found that Kill Boro had a little more soul to it, more authenticity and quite possibly, Niger Deltans will prefer this portrayal to the somewhat controversial one from the other movie (No, I will not mention it because we don't pit two bad beeches against each other )

Blood vessel!!!

Ok

8.5?

I will give it a low 4/10

The movie dragged on for too long. They played around a lot of themes in the first 30 mins, before they finally settled on the abuse theme.
Honestly, they could have rounded it all up in an hr. There feel good and sad moments but nothing special

Seen the movie 🎥..
Overall, the story line and production is a Go.

Try see it too

Pootle:
Hollywood still the best

Getat. Hollywood wey dey use fake Nigerian accent to depict a Nigerian role. E.g The ministry of Ungentlemanly warfare, No be trash be that?

To me, the movie is actually educative, there are many lessons learnt in it, especially, decisions/steps taken at distress time/hard time...

I rate it 8/10

So it's a new film. Saw it on prime video but skipped it thinking it was an old movie.

strong 7.7/10

not your typical cheesy Nollywood flick.
my favourite aspect was the incorporation of Port Harcourt pidgin into the script.

highly recommended.