(+ Synopsis) Movie review: Ajoji

Movie review: Ajoji

Have you ever heard of the word “Spellbound?” This movie is what you call spellbound, fascinating, enthralling, entrancing, enchanting, captivating, and intriguing. Oh! Forgive my bad; those words seem like the synonyms of spellbound, right? 

I just really wanted all of you to know that this movie di (is) so interesting, and it is okay to watch it. 

The first time I saw the preview of this film, I thought it was one of those films with attention-grabbing trailers whose entire film would end up being a total mess, but this film is different. Trust me! It is a fantastic movie and a well-written story. 

I couldn’t find any fault in the movie. If you did, kindly share via the comment box. Ajoji is a Yoruba movie that means “stranger” when translated to English. It is one of the few cast movies in the country. It may be somewhat horror for one who is not into horror films because of the ghost that kept on appearing and disappearing, but for a horror junkie, it is certainly not! 

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Ajoji tells the story of two women, Bisola (Acted by Jumoke Odetola) and Kemi (Acted by Yewande Adekoya), whose lives were cut short when they least expected. Bisola, a beautiful and humble stylist, has a very loving husband, Akin (Acted by Femi Branch), and a beautiful daughter Iransi (Acted by Tumise Adeyemo). Bisola had an accident on her way to an award ceremony where she was supposed to receive an award. She had rushed out of the house, leaving the husband and daughter; unfortunately, she could not receive the award. Bisola roamed around the streets looking for a way to reconnect with her family but was unable to. 

The other lady, Kemi, was also married. However, Kemi and Ade (Acted by Femi Adebayo) had marital issues, so Ade wanted to divorce her. But, Kemi did not want to divorce her husband. She still loved him, so she refused to sign the divorce papers Ade served her. 

When the couple visited a marriage counselor, Kemi learned that Ade wanted to divorce her because of the countless miscarriages and no longer took care of herself. But as they stepped out of the counselor’s office, Kemi found out that the real reason Ade wanted to divorce her was that he was already cheating on her with his secretary, Tope (Acted by Tolulope Oloko), whom he planned to marry once the divorce was successful. 

So, in anger, Kemi got a gun and the secretary’s address, Tope, that was sleeping with her husband. On her way to kill the secretary, she was knocked down by a hit-and-run driver. 

As her spirit departed from her body, Bisola’s spirit roaming about, looking for ways to connect with her family again, entered her body. It made Kemi’s spirit unable to return to her body as someone else; Bisola already occupied her body. 

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Bisola quickly reconnected with her family using someone else’s body. Kemi, in anger, appeared to Bisola for occupying her body without giving her a chance to be rushed to the hospital and receive treatment. Bisola apologized to Kemi and told her that she needed to reconnect with her family. Kemi agreed to forgive Bisola only if she helped her deal with the secretary who stole the husband’s heart away from her. 

Bisola, who had a limited time, managed to separate Kemi’s husband, Ade, from the promiscuous secretary and reconnected with her family before finally departing. 

Watch the whole drama here- https://youtu.be/lOsFcd2u9LE 

Like I said earlier, I love this movie; everything about it is on point: the visual effect, soundtrack, directing, and editing. I love the use of both day and night scenes, which is rare in some movies. One could tell the number of days that had passed after a particular scene. The actors were of excellent performances; they interpreted their roles flawlessly and brought life to the script. 

The film also teaches knowledge in one of the scenes, making it an educative film and watchable for kids. There was a particular scene where Bisola, while in “Kemi’s” body, was teaching her child “past tense and future tense” of a particular word. She had asked her daughter for the past and future tense of “play,” and the daughter replied, “I played Yesterday (Past tense), I am going to play Tomorrow (Future tense) 

Costume wise • Good Sound-wise • Good 

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Mysteries 

• Bisola, while using “Kemi’s body,” went to work as a Nanny in her house after the duo’s death (Bisola and Kemi). She was able to tell her daughter’s favorite meal, which amazed the unknowing husband. 

• Bisola, while using “Kemi’s body,” knew all the places her daughter loved to go before her death. She also knew all the rooms in their house, which amazed the unknowing husband. 

• Bisola, while using “Kemi’s body,” was able to find whatever her husband was looking for, which amazed the unknowing husband. 

• Bisola, while using “Kemi’s body,” knew the gateman’s name, Okele, which amazed the unknowing gateman. 

• Bisola, while using “Kemi’s body,” knew her daughter’s other name, which she alone called her daughter when she was alive. It amazed her unsuspecting daughter and husband. 

• Kemi, while using “Bisola’s spirit,” began to look more attractive than when she was alive; Akin was unsuspecting of this. 

• Kemi, while using “Bisola’s spirit,” was able to win the heart of Ade back, and the unsuspecting husband fell in love with her again and pursued the promiscuous secretary, but it was too late. 

Confusing scene(s): Nil 

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The overall rating for Ajoji 

• Structure: Good Beginning, Good Middle, Good Ending 

• Sound: Good 

• Dialogue: Good 

• Characters: Familiar faces and new faces 

• Screenplay: Good 

• Shots: Bright shots 

• Location: Nigeria 

• Remark: I love the screenplay of this movie. It is an excellent movie to watch. It is educative and inspires one to turn a new leaf before losing what they cherish most in life. It highlights the importance of couples fixing themselves first to fix their relationship. 

• Rate: 7/10 

Duration: 1 hour 46 minutes 

Production Year: 2020 

Ajoji Cast and Crew

Yewande Adekoya acted as Kemi, Femi Adebayo acted as Ade, Jumoke Odetola acted as Bisola, Femi Branch acted as Akin, Tolulope Oloko acted as Tope, Tunde Usman acted as Okele, Muyideen Oladapo acted as Doctor, Damola acted as Salesgirl, Tunmise Adeyemo acted as a Salesgirl. 

A Tolulope Oloko Production; Phoenix film productions story by Love Ozonma.

Written and produced by Tolulope Oloko

Visual effect: Gbenga Okunola Akinlabi

Directed by: Muyideen Oladapo