Matching the lofty standards set by Hollywood is no mean feat. The American movie industry is decades ahead of all the others, with hundreds of blockbusters, several world-class studios, production companies, and an unbroken trail of legendary actors to its credit.
However, the Nigerian movie industry isn't slacking either. Even before the turn of the century, Nollywood was already on a meteoric rise.
While a multi-billion-dollar-grossing production like James Cameron's Avatar may be years away from actualization, Nollywood continues to demonstrate that it's not here to play, with its ever-improving line of productions propelled by its array of world-class actors and an unending supply of didactic plots.
Without further ado, we present our ultimate list of the best 20 Nollywood movies of all time:
October 1 is gritty. October 1 is not easy to watch. It is not supposed to be easy to watch. October 1 is not your regular movie, as the plot itself is a complicated one.
It tells of the efficient Inspector Danladi Waziri deployed to the sleepy village of Akote to investigate a series of systematic rape and killings happening there.
Fused into the plot is a blossoming love triangle between the crown prince Aderopo, Miss Tawa, and Mr Olaitan, the local headmaster, and the conflict between Igbos and Hausas, all against a backdrop of Nigeria’s independence.
A true masterpiece.
There's something delightfully non-conformist about this movie.
In King of Boys, Alhaja Eniola Salami has it all; a lucrative business, a seat among the men of the underworld, and not just an ordinary seat; the effing head of the table! She also has ties to the political class, as well as two children who are also in on the family "business."
Life is good.
However, all it takes is one slip-up: An insufferable enemy, Makanaki, hell-bent on taking her crown off her head, politicians being politicians, double-dealing with her, and a relentless law enforcement agent determined to take her down…
Abeni is a beautiful work of art, even for a movie that was produced as far back as 2006.
Set in Lagos and Cotonou, Abeni weaves effortlessly between these two locations, with its vivid scenery and romance-based plot ensuring that the movie perpetually stands the test of time.
The story is quite straightforward, with the characters firmly at the heart of things. The result? This masterpiece!
It's Dozie Onwuka and Dunni Coker’s wedding day. They are in love, quite alright, but in typical Nigerian fashion, they have to contend with a lot of drama right from the start of their big day.
This includes late bridesmaids, a freak accident that puts the original best man out of commission, switched menus, a torn wedding dress, hateful inlaws, and a detour that makes the parents assume the couple has gone AWOL.
Rounding things off spectacularly is a drunken best man, uninvited guests, a robbery, rejected bougie cuisine, a bitter ex, and a hyperactive event planner.
It was one hell of a party!
O Le Ku is a 1997 movie produced by Uncle TK and Mainframe Productions Opomulero.
The movie tells of Ajani, a proper Yoruba demon in his final year at the University of Ibadan in the 70s. Undecidedly stuck between the affections of three beautiful women, he has to deal with a lot of pressure from his mother, who, for some reason, wants to carry her grandchildren before she dies.
This movie single-handedly started a nationwide phenomenal fashion trend of the short sleeve buba and short iro, also called ‘Oleku style’, popular in the 70s but revamped and named after the movie.
That style is not going anywhere!
Gangs of Lagos is one movie that took on the premise it was supposed to tackle, delivering without missing a bit.
As the movie title, Gangs of Lagos, suggests, there's a lot of violence, crime, and betrayals. On the other hand, we find human traits like loyalty, brotherhood, love, and friendship that stand the test of time.
Eventually, the audience realizes that these thugs, these dregs of society, are also human, with their dreams, relationships, and demons.
This movie is based on a mystical Yoruba folklore, an ‘Odu Ifa’ based on how Saro came to be called ‘Anikulapo,’ which roughly translates to ‘the one who has death in his pouch.’
Set in Old Oyo town, the ancestral home of the Yoruba people, Anikulapo is a story of love, hatred, betrayal, greed, selfishness, and lust.
Saro, a down-on-his-luck young man from Gbongan seeking greener pastures in Oyo, meets a rich woman, Awarun. He becomes her sugar boy while she introduces him to the soft life and elite society.
However, Saro meets and falls in love with the king’s favorite wife, Arolake, and plans to elope with her. This angers the scorned princess, Omowunmi, who nurses a burning passion for Saro.
Captured and left for dead, he somehow survives the ordeal with Arolake’s help and procures a gourd with powers to raise the dead from a certain mythical bird.
He eventually marries Arolake and becomes a local celebrity in the faraway village they elope to.
A Tribe Called Judah explores themes of family dynamics, sacrificial love, and moral ambiguity.
In the movie, Emeka Judah sacrifices himself for his brothers after leading a robbery attempt on his boss, who is himself a notorious mob kingpin. His sacrifice ultimately comes at a very expensive price.
Also worthy of mention is Testimony, a symbol of unwavering loyalty and resilience, contrasting with Judah’s chaotic love life.
The message is powerful and very clear to the viewers: true companionship endures adversity, and trials can never break the bonds of love. I mean, Ejiro is a hot mess, but Testimony loves him with her whole being all the same.
Get you a woman like Testimony!
In three parts- The Genesis, The Revolt, and The Final Struggle- Tade Ogidan puts Wole Owolabi and his family in the middle of this brouhaha.
From the start, we see the victims of an indifferent society that is unjust and biased, with Wole's father imprisoned by his bosses for calling out the corruption in the civil service, leaving him and his family to scrounge for survival.
Unable to continue his education, Wole falls further deeply into the dregs of society, engaging in all forms of degrading jobs to survive and feed his family, eventually becoming a reluctant armed robber.
Unfortunately, after amassing enough money to be a high-standing member of this same society, it spits him out. His elder sister Mope dies at the abortionist’s table, albeit unwittingly, because, in her quest to also survive and bring something home for her siblings and mother, she becomes the love interest to a much older man who takes advantage of her innocence.
Breath of Life is a beautiful movie. It not only tugs at your heartstrings but strengthens your faith and belief in destiny helpers.
It was really delightful to see Wale Ojo and Chimezie Imo insert themselves into their roles. I mean, from the outside, it looked quite challenging. But these two blended perfectly with the enigmatic characters they portrayed, delivering flawless performances.
Add to that the incredible delivery of Genoveva Umeh as Elijah’s love interest, and you have yourself a blockbuster!
As far as supernatural horror movies are concerned, The Figurine is one of the best Nollywood movies in the genre.
This is the movie that, in my opinion, propelled Kunle Afolayan into the spotlight, cementing his reputation as the top-class filmmaker that we know and love today.
You just cannot see anything wrong with this movie. The pacing is consistent. The characters are superb, and the period mannerisms, including costumes and props, are spot on.
In The Figurine, everyone's a villain. The movie features three-dimensional MCs, a heart-melting love triangle, and unrequited love that is not meant to be.
Before Glamour Girls, the predominant themes in Nollywood were ritualism and its attendant brothers- witchcraft, divination, evil deeds, and lust for money. While Kenneth Nnnbue's Glamour Girls dwelled on these topics, another major theme was explored- the luxurious and scandalous lives of ‘Lagos Big girls and boys’.
Glamour Girls (not its Netflix remake) outdid all its low-budget, similarly-plotted storylines, standing out as a movie way ahead of its time. You could tell that the producer made an effort to stand out, and it paid off at the end.
As one of the best Nollywood movies of all time, Gold Statue featured an ensemble made up of the industry's big wigs, down to the minor characters. And usually, when big stars populate a movie, one of two things happens. It is either they make the movie, or they mar it.
But in this case, they went into the kitchen, cooked, and presented this beautiful movie!
Gold Statute is a wonderful comedy that tells of Wale and Chike, two down-on-their-luck young men who, upon learning of the myth of a certain gold statue buried somewhere in the South Western part of Nigeria, decide to find the treasured object and sell it.
Those two guys, ehn!
In their quest to dig out the gold statue buried in a prison in Ilesha, Osun State, these two idiots take the audience through a most hilarious experience.
It's a thoroughly absorbing laughter-fest
Hostages is a 1996 movie about timeless love, and you're sure to enjoy it as much as I did. In the movie, Tony, a dirt-poor, 21-year-old Youth Corps member, falls in love with Fatima, the daughter of the wealthy Chief Camson.
As his financial status means he can't be with the woman he loves, he cooks up a lot of elaborate schemes to be with his woman, including escaping from prison and mistakenly killing the man Fatima’s parents want her to marry. The original charges against him are tripled, and he is immediately sentenced to death.
Chief Camson, seeing that Tony really loves his daughter, has a change of mind and tries to help him, but the law is bent on making Tony the scapegoat.
Eventually, love wins.
Aye Tuntun shows the thin line between science and spirituality, as well as how man's quest for knowledge of God's existence will generate more questions than answers.
Such is the fate of Professor Tanmo Amubieya, a professor of philosophy in the 60s who preached his atheist beliefs to his students.
While on a journey from Lagos to Ibadan in 1961, he travels back in time to Oloke Land, a totally different world from his own; one where there is mourning when someone is born and joy when someone dies, a land where the the leader stands while the subjects sit.
The professor ultimately meets Akode, his spirit guide (played by the late Bisi Komolafe whom I miss every day!), who inadvertently changes his life and way of thinking.
What is a list of the top 20 Nollywood movies of all time without this biopic?
Ayinla, aka ‘Anigilaje Omo Wuramotu,’ the legendary Apala music act, died in a bar brawl aged 47 after being struck on the head by his manager. The latter was sentenced to death, and the world moved on.
However, Uncle Tunde ‘TK’ Kelani saw a story that could be made into a hit movie, and the result was this masterpiece! Lateef Adedimeji stole the limelight with a brilliant performance depicting the Ayinla. One can only imagine the sleepless nights and the background work he put into learning the songs and mannerisms of the music artiste he depicted.
The supporting cast, including Debo ‘Mr. Macaroni’ Adebayo, Kunle Afolayan, Ade Laoye, Omowunmi Dada, Bimbo Manuel, Bimbo Ademoye, Dare Agbejo, and Kayode Akindina also put in a great shift.
Ayinla is a movie that every lover of art, music, and history should see.
Ti Oluwa Nile translates to ‘The Earth is the Lord’s.’ This 3-part movie highlights the negative effects of greed and corruption.
The movie features Sanya, a local real estate agent; JP, a fast-talking street smart court bailiff; and Chief Asiyanbi, the corrupt right-hand chief of Apatira village, who form an unlikely alliance as they connive to sell an ancestral piece of land to a petroleum company.
However, as it's a sacred land, curses begin to follow the people carrying out commercial activities on it. Calamity sets in, starting with Sanya's and JP's mysterious death.
Chief Asiyanbi, realizing what is happening, finds himself in a desperate situation and does everything possible to prevent JP’s burial. He is banished from the village, travels far and wide, and gets in a lot of sticky situations in a bid to escape the looming shadow of death.
This is a 2002 movie written, produced, and directed by the versatile Wemimo Olu Paul of the popular Wemimo films.
After the death of Chief Rhodes, His lawyer announces to the family that half of his properties are bequeathed to his future grandchild, the offspring of his daughter, Mope, and her husband, Tunji.
However, Mope suffers a miscarriage, and 6 years after Chief Rhode’s death, frustration begins to set in, resulting in Tunji deciding to have a child out of wedlock.
From then on, it's total chaos.
Living in Bondage is a 1992/93 two-part movie written by Kenneth Nnebue. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the first Nigerian home video to be a blockbuster, and ‘Swanky JKA’ Achufusi shines in his debut role as Nnamdi Okeke.
There's lots to like about Living in Bondage, including the brotherhood between the MCs, the parallels between light and darkness, God and the Devil, and its seamless switch between English and Igbo language.
Lagidigbais is one of Yoruba Nollywood’s earliest forays into feminism and everything in between. And, daresay I that this is the first movie ever to have an all-female cast.
This movie had such a profound effect on me that I found myself thinking deeply about the characters, especially Jadesola, played by the enigmatic Sola Sobowale.
While many of the Nollywood movies on our list are quite old, it's a testament to the capabilities of the industry's pioneering filmmakers that these movies continue to be regarded so highly.
So, are any of your favorites missing? Let us know in the comments!
Saworo Ide
Koto Aye
Isakaba
Some heavy names missing from this list
It's a continuous list. I'll put your suggestions into consideration.
Thanks though.