Every film director has film signatures, visual and thematic clues that define their work. We look forward to the heart-bending innovations of Grit and Crime by Martin Scorsese, Maudlin Sentimentality by Pedro Almodovar and Christopher Nolan.
Kemi Adetiba, famous for King of Boys, carves her with a cinematic product that throws harsh search lights at Seedy and The Shady. That signature is evident in her new product, which has tops the Nigerian Netflix chart for over a month.
Her eight-episode series, the Monkey, is thought broadly and massively to kill, blending family stories, poverty, madness, cybercrime and corrupt underworlds.
The story continues with Efemini – “Efe” (William Benson). Due to the lack of opportunities, he suffers from insults as he tries to deal with his family, growing his dream of selling artificial intelligence and malware software to high-tech companies.
But there are other plans in life. When he meets Oboz (Butch Franklin), a charismatic cybercriminal acquaintance from college, Ephe is drawn into a crime syndicate. Disgusted with humiliation and ignorance, he weaponizes his sparkle to become the mastermind of gangster skills.
Meanwhile, the syndicate's activities have attracted the attention of Nigeria's Cybercrime Commission. Motunrayo “Mo” Ogunlesi (Bimbo Akintola) is troubled by personal loss and becomes obsessed with “The Monkey Case.” Her pursuit of justice clashes violently with the compromised system and the EFE, whose moral compass has lost its true north.
How much can a man take?
Killing the Monkey is a revelation and warning story of how policy failure can destroy ambition and corrupt morality. This is investigated through the descent of ephe. Ephe doesn't wake up because he wants to be a con artist. He was pushed deep into moral ruin by an escalating cocktail of disappointment and insult. Do you see him being beaten by life and people and wonder how many guys can take it before one person snaps?
We see the man who has reached the end of his tether as he begs Obos, “for me in Abug Kat Thorpe.”
However, his surrender has moral challenges.
Despite its persuasive premise, the series suffers from robust writing. Adetiva complicates the story by introducing new plot lines and characters. Some of the shows may have benefited from refinement, including more accurate editing, suppressed acting, tighter subplots, and more refined dialogue.
The introduction to the teacher (Chidi Mokeme), the boss of brutal crime, is intended to raise interest, but it's a bottle.
The pacing for killing monkeys is quite different. The first and second episodes do an amazing job establishing the EFE dilemma. However, the interim episodes draw a little out and reduce momentum. In contrast, the final episode rushes to conclusions.
Performances can range from seductive to excessive. William Benson's portrayal of EFE is persuasive, and the slow descent into the immoral deep s has a deep impact, but Butch Franklin brings charm and threat to the attention-grabbing Obos. Stella Damasus returns to being formed as Ephe's long-suffering wife.
Killing monkeys is important when it is a flawed quest for the nation at the crossroads between innovation and potential downfall. The last thing to come into play is the bold, bruiseful and thrilling revelation of a society where talent clashes with the situation, often meaning you accept what you once hated.
