₦airaland Forum

bukatyne:
I just finished 'To Kill a Monkey' and my verdict AAin one sentence?

Excellent material, poor execution.

Poor execution!

There are more than ten million Efeminis in Nigeria: brilliant, excellent grades, entrepreneurial, hardworking, willing to start from the bottom, and persistent.

This was Kemi's opportunity to tell them what to do. Efe's choice was the easiest and most obvious however, why didn't she show us what they could do instead? If they had blind spots (as every human, why didn't she point them out instead)?

Or does she have a grouse with the Efes of this life?

Efe's wife was not making any sense. If she hated the dirty money (which they both decided to pursue), why did she collect all the other offshore accounts after the divorce? And their marriage broke down before Anita came along. Strangely, Oboz's wife wasn't even a bad influence. Because at the store, she still 'advised' Nosa to 'hold her husband tight' and 'bring him home'. She cared for the kids, she was a good hostess so where did Nosa learn her craze? Her mother?

Then his daughter; is she daft? Or was her father not providing enough for her that she went after Oboz?

Then didn't Efe learn enough from Oboz that engagement with men like Teacher never end well?

The movie tried to amplify his faults: he has an issue with his wife, he flies to Anita permanently.... he has issues with Oboz, he flies to Teacher (even if it was to protect his family). He also never shared his issues with his wife. There was no reason why. What was the deal with him and Ivie's mom?

Inspector Mo should have interviewed Efe to give us more glimpse into his mind or have him to a soliloquy. Why did he want to leave Anita behind? Did he find out that she was working for Teacher or? Why did he never confide in his wife? At what point was he going to realise that Oboz was never to kill him and he was a better choice than Teacher? Why didn't he try other software companies?

I expected Mo to interact with him beyond 'I will put you in jail for a long time'. You met this guy in the hospital unable to pay his hospital bills. You meet the CMD of the hospital that would have told you that he felt relief when one of the babies died and you did not explore his story further?

What happened to his sleazy supervisor? If she was male, some people.would have tried to throw a 'rape' angle in.

What does Anita get as recompense? All the women who testified against him are same with him. In what hypocritical world do they get to be suddenly 'victims'?

Chai!

Mizessy:
For me, Efe thought he was a good man. He practiced goodness and kindness initially. He had principles, but fell victim to circumstances and ended up loosing himself in the process. He didn't stand for what he believed in the long run, like just choose a side already, good or bad. Staying true to himself. And if he really didn't want the business, he could have decided to leave after getting enough money, maybe relocate his family to another country and start life afresh... Have a plan. That escape he wanted to make at the end, it should have been at the beginning or a normal part of the plan in the long run, but both Efe and Oboz were greedy. Efe never held himself accountable for his wrong actions. He was displaying wannabe street smartness, but not strong enough for the street... He was a victim of circumstances, showing the ugly side of humans in certain tough situations. But, Who are we to judge though cos who knows what we would do if we were in his shoes??

Hamachi:
Your points are compelling, but To Kill a Monkey might not be about offering answers or moral clarity—it may be about mirroring chaos, exposing societal contradictions, and holding up a mirror to a broken system.

Kemi didn’t fail to “show us what they could do instead” because maybe that wasn't the story she wanted to tell. Efe is representative of the hardworking, brilliant Nigerian youth, yes—but he’s also a metaphor for what happens when brilliance lacks guidance, systems fail, and desperation replaces direction. The tragedy is intentional: it’s meant to be frustrating. We don’t get “solutions” because in real life, most Efes are navigating a similar fog.

As for the women, maybe the point was to show everyone’s hypocrisy and complexity—not just Efe’s. His wife taking the offshore money after condemning the source is the contradiction of survival. Anita might have had her own agency and motivations we weren’t shown because, again, this isn’t a moral tale—it’s a maze.

Even Mo’s seemingly shallow investigation could be Kemi’s jab at institutions that don’t really care about truth—only headlines and arrests. The same applies to the lack of resolution with his sleazy supervisor or his daughter’s choices: they are threads left loose, like in life.

Yes, it could have been executed better—more depth, more inner dialogue, more clarity. But maybe what you call “poor execution” is actually deliberate discomfort. Maybe To Kill a Monkey isn't a guidebook—it’s a warning.

bukatyne:
👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏

Thank you for the shift in perspective.

"But maybe what you call “poor execution” is actually deliberate discomfort. Maybe To Kill a Monkey isn't a guidebook—it’s a warning."

Hmmmmmmm.

P.S.: the overall post was a very good read.