Almost everyone returns from the first film. Karibi Fubara, is honoured with a tribute and Meg Otanwa plays the role of a mother who went through postpartum depression like a lived experience
After 30 movie still
Film: After 30
Cast: Jibola Abiodun, Damilola Adegbite, Diipo Adeusi
Director: Omorinsojo Spaine
Rating: 2/5
Runtime: 111 min
This sequel to ‘Before 30’ tells us how four Nigerian women, over 30, balance careers, growth, and relationships while navigating love, friendship, and societal pressure. Their advanced age though doesn’t guarantee a stronger sense of purpose while challenging norms in a world that often defines women by status. Here the typical female friendship trope becomes the bulwark for a showcase of women as complex allies.
8 years have passed since the events of ‘Before 30’ and Temi’s voiceover makes us aware of what the four friends, Temilola Coker (Damilola Adegbite), Aisha (Meg Otanwa), Nkem (Beverly Naya), and Ama (Anee Icha), have been up to in the interim. The spirited and ambitious quartet living in Lagos a city brimming with love and lust, are back to being at the crossroads.
Temi, well into her 30s, is now in love with Kunle (Samuel As’ah), then an ill-timed encounter with Ayo (OC Ukeje), her old flame, a few weeks before the marriage puts her in a quandry. Ama has a chance at love but the taboo nature of it scares her. Aisha is so stuck up in Nkem’s business of wanting a baby of her own that she forgets she’s still a part of the world filled with strictures and conventions. They are all older but they don’t appear to have gotten wiser, and things are falling apart instead of finally falling into place.
Love is messy and “soulmates” don’t always end up getting together. The relationships being depicted here are traumatic and frustrating for the viewer, leave aside the principle characters. Life doesn’t get any easier after 30. By the end of the movie, we see the four friends still ending up sad, vulnerable, yet stoic.There’s probably another sequel in the offing. After 30 compares the older self with the younger self and still comes up wanting. These women, who were once the picture of friendship, are now in deeper conflict. It’s not an ideal ending but leaves the door open for greater possibilities in the future.
Almost everyone returns from the first film. Karibi Fubara, is honoured with a tribute and Meg Otanwa plays the role of a mother who went through postpartum depression like a lived experience.
Bibi Ukpo’s and BB Sasore’s writing isn’t sharp or humorous. It hovers between vacuous drama and a few heartwarming moments. The screenplay’s exploration of same sex relationships is fairly sensitive. Momo Spaine, debut director and co-writer of After 30, struggles to maintain cohesion while representing this story with feminist leanings. The film makes for a polished but hollow experience.
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