The Figurine (2009)
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The Figurine Movie Review
The Figurine is a 2009 Nigerian thriller film directed by Kunle Afolayan and starring Ramsey Nouah and Omoni Oboli. It is an intriguing movie at first, but it quickly turns into disappointment.
Two friends discover a mystical sculpture that bestows seven years of good luck on anyone that encounters it, but dark consequences come in the years that follow. This is one of the biggest Nollywood movies in both popularity and critical reception including the awards. Nigeria has a booming film industry and this was the beginning of that boom. As a result of all this, I’d expected great things coming in, but I ended up being immensely disappointed.
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First and foremost, the movie has that very frustrating false genre premise. It promises to be a supernatural horror with folk elements, but it ends up being nothing of the aforementioned as the twist is very human and reasonable, which in this instance was not a good thing. Again, it made sense and it wasn’t a plot hole in any shape or form, but it rendered the movie a drama with thriller elements and that was annoying.
The beginning was so intriguing and well crafted that I wished the movie went into that territory. Instead, what we got was a thriller drama that relies on so many romantic entanglements, especially cheating, that it becomes pretty much a soap opera in its infuriating second act. The third act twist at least led to better characterization and heightened stakes, but that second act was by far the worst section in the film.
The Figurine needed better characterization for a story that is very character-driven. Most of these people were forgettable with only a few exceptions. Omoni Oboli played her part so well while Ramsey Nouah is by far the highlight of the story as Femi is both a tragic figure and a terrific villain. He is very well written and is by far the best part of the movie.
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Technically speaking, The Figurine is solidly directed by the renowned Nigerian director Kunle Afolayan and it looks pretty good with some strong cinematography on display, but the production design, score and editing all needed to have been better with the sound quality also not cutting it for the Western standards. It’s a shame that the movie ended up being so chaotic when it had so much potential from the beginning.
The Figurine is a very disappointing movie that starts off promising with a terrific supernatural opening, but it quickly disposes of those genre elements in favor of uninteresting romantic developments and a twist in the end that was too predictable. It’s a Nigerian thriller that is well directed and acted with some memorable characters, but it ended up being too chaotic and frustrating, unfortunately squandering its excellent premise.
My Rating – 3
