“When a Yoruba woman tells you koshi danu, she means war.” What does that even mean??
Pero (Omowumi Dada), eldest daughter of Chief and Mrs. Balogun (played by Dele Odule and Sola Sobowale), is set to marry Victor (Tayo Faniran), but her life takes a dramatic turn when a man named Ifeanyi (Charles Okafor) suddenly appears, claiming to be her biological father and turning her perfect life upside down.
If you have seen this film, you most likely already know this. But if you haven’t, I must start by telling you to lower your expectations before you watch it. Ignore everything you heard about it while it was showing in cinemas because none of it is true.
What did I like about this film? Not much. I mean, there was really nothing I liked enough to specifically call out. However, it’s a decent one to have on in the background while doing other things around the house.
I imagine some would say, it’s Mercy Aigbe’s first film so we should cut her some slack but unfortunately, I don’t have much slack to give at the moment because the issues with this film were just too many to ignore.
What were the issues?
The story was not bad; it was a simple one that could have made a decent film. However, the storytelling was extremely poor, and as such, this film is more likely to annoy you than entertain you.
When I say the storytelling was bad, what do I mean? I mean that when I heard the movie title Ada Omo Daddy, I was expecting a heartwarming story about a father-and-daughter bond. We see so many stories about mothers and their daughters but not enough spotlighting fathers, so I was happy about this one and hoping to see a film that shows the deep and wholesome connection between a father and his daughter. Unfortunately, Ada turned out to be a silly girl and her connection with her father was not all that. There was just nothing there. We were not invested in Pero’s relationship with the father who raised her, and we were definitely not interested in the relationship between her and her biological father.
The way the story progressed just did not follow a natural flow, in my opinion. For someone who was raised by a man who did everything a father would do, Pero moved on too fast and clung to this new man who had obviously hurt her mother and abandoned her as a child. It did not make any sense to me. She behaved like someone who never knew a father’s love and was eager to hold onto this man who apparently was her real father.
The relationship between Pero and her fiancé was another weird one. No love, no connection, no chemistry, they could not convince anyone that those two were in love and about to be married. That proposal scene was not nice at all.
But the main flaw in the storytelling was the way the whole conflict played out. I don’t know if it was just me, but the issue was actually not an issue. It had no major effect, no impact. There were no highlights, no suspense, everything was just… there.
Ada Omo Daddy was weighed down by poor dialogue and poorly executed scenes.
“When a Yoruba woman tells you koshi danu, she means war”… as how?
How do you casually just say you want a $15,000 bag at the breakfast table? It was sooo cringe and unbelievable. It reminded me of those old Yoruba films where ‘chief and his wife’ just casually talked about millions and billions when they obviously did not look like they could afford anything.
I must mention that the scene where Pero called her father to ask him to buy her a bag did not give what they thought it would give. It was cringe, awkward, unnecessary, and extremely uncomfortable to watch. She had just become MD of a company, what was the point of that scene? I think that was the most annoying scene in the film, to be honest.
No, sorry, the bathtub scene was actually the worst😭
I strongly believe that the scenes that could have and should have added heart to the film were not properly executed. For example, the scene where her mother told her the full story should have been powerful. The scene where her father went to her room to speak to her should have been a solid one too, but they were just flat.
Another thing I did not like about this film was the acting. While Omowumi Dada is not a bad actress, her performance did not make an impression on me. This might be because the character Pero had no layers or depth, but I have definitely seen her do better. Sola Sobowale was her usual self (make of that what you will). Charles Okafor, Dele Odule and Chiwetalu Agu starred in this film. They were not terrible but it just didn’t feel like they got enough direction to bring out the best in them.
The one person whose performance irked my soul in this movie was Tayo Faniran… again, do they do auditions in Nollywood?? It is impossible that he auditioned and was considered the best fit for this role. This movie had enough issues, but anytime Tayo appeared on screen with his plastic performance, it just made me more upset.
Also, another issue I had with this film was that they gave us unlikeable characters. They were too annoying, we couldn’t root for any of them. Pero annoyed me ehn. I did not understand how she was showing more concern and support for an irresponsible man who abandoned her mother, yet not one sign of care or empathy for her mother. As far as I’m concerned, she spent too much time with the wrong father. I wanted to understand her anger and the way she kept on lashing out but I just couldn’t. She was projecting the wrong emotions. I would have understood it if the dominant emotion in her eyes was fear, because her place within this family she had always called her own was at risk. I would have loved to see her spend time with the man who raised her, doing the things they loved doing together to remind them both of how special their bond was, whether they were blood-related or not. But in this film, it was frustrating to watch the character called Pero. She was just behaving anyhow.
Ifeanyi? Very stinking character. We did not see him evolve. As a young man, he was a bottom barrel man and as an old man, he was still annoying and entitled.
Moving on, who else noticed that in this film, it was like they were on a different time frame? In one day, they were able to do things that would typically happen over several days. I did not understand how so many things could happen in one day. It was like 72hours packed in a day.
The audio, sound, soundtrack everything that relates to hearing sha in this film was baaaaad. It was a struggle to hear them speak sometimes because everything was just clashing. I thought we left things like this in 2001?
Editing was poor as well, it just felt like scenes were missing. There was one particular scene where Pero was looking at baby pictures with her sister , her mother walked in then they took us back to the previous day and her conversation with her mother. I was not even sure what happened exactly.
Did you have questions while watching this film? As for me, I had questions. I wondered how Ifeanyi got Pero’s phone number, I wondered how he conveniently had the other half of the family picture and what point did they meet to split it? It just seemed too convenient.
Finally, I couldn’t help but wonder what on earth that wedding ceremony was! The wedding, which was supposed to add that “fun vibe” to the movie (like The Wedding Party), was just flat—a shameless copycat that did not understand the assignment. Ada Omo Daddy tried to recycle The Wedding Party’s tropes but lacked its charm and class. The wedding party in this movie did not look nice, it didn’t look fun, and it certainly didn’t add much to the overall movie.
In the end, Ada Omo Daddy tried for a sentimental conclusion it did not earn, and it was a big no for me. All I could focus on was the fact that Charles Okocha was not wearing shoes.
I’d wrap this up by saying February has been a long one for Nollywood lovers who depend on streaming platforms because there was not much to watch except Sandra Okunzuwa’s low-budget YouTube movies that she repackaged (poorly) and repurposed for Prime Video. So, I was grateful when I heard Ada Omo Daddy was coming online. I really wanted to like it, but in the end, I was more upset than entertained by this one. Ada Omo Daddy was not a good watch for me, but who knows—you might like it. 🤷🏽♀️
Rating: 3.5/10
Have you seen the movie, please share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
Read the review of Finding Me here.
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