With only two central characters carrying most of the story, ‘Anjola’ turns a familiar Nollywood theme into a gripping and emotionally resonant experience.
Cast: Bolaji Ogunmola, Femi Jacobs, Bimbo Akintola
Writer: Mannie Oisemaye
Producer: Bolaji Ogunmola, The Ogunmola Company
In the first scene of the movie Anjola, the titular character and her mother
(Bimbo Akintola) They are at a shanty, waiting to be seen by a spiritualist. This sets the tone for the rest of the movie. Anjola looks sombre, scared yet determined, while her mother looks worried, especially when the sound of her daughter being whipped rends the air.
At first glance, this appears to be yet another movie about a woman’s quest for a child of her own, but it soon turns out to be so much more.
It is a torturous conversation between Folarin and his wife, Anjola. Between two lovers who have been battered by the storms of infertility, who have tried and tried yet failed in their quest to bring new life into this world.
Anjola( Bolaji Ogunmola) is a woman on a mission. That mission is to carry her own baby, in her own womb, and birth it by herself. She has made several attempts, gone through hell and high water, miscarriages, fertility treatments, spiritualists and other charlatans to make this happen. Unfortunately, she has yet to succeed. This journey has robbed her of her confidence, her creativity, and her joy, but she keeps believing, keeps trying. She is desperate and does everything she can to redeem herself in her husband’s eyes. To make sure she doesn’t become an object of ridicule.
On the other hand, her husband Folarin (Femi Jacobs) has accepted the doctor’s verdict that Anjola’s womb will never carry children and is doing his best to move forward. Unlike him, she refuses to accept it because her self-worth revolves around giving her husband a child.
She also thinks his acceptance is pretentious, and so she watches him like a hawk, noting every frown, every action, whether careless or deliberate, any whisper that proves that he is indeed unhappy with their childlessness. She internalises all of it, and it eats her up, turning her from the happy woman he married to a shrew.
The story is about the toll infertility takes on a couple as individuals and as a collective. It beams a light on the man’s feelings, his hurt, his shame, the suffering, the struggles, the possible cost to his finances and his career.
It also examines how, even when the man is supportive and doing all the right things, the woman still carries the burden of spoken and unspoken expectations from her husband, her in-laws, and sometimes her own family.
It also examines surrogacy not as an easy way out, but as a path no one willingly wants to walk.
Anjola and Folarin have been married for seven years and, in that time, have tried everything possible to have kids without success. After a series of painful and expensive fertility treatments, doctors advise Anjola against carrying a baby herself, as it might kill her. However, Anjola would rather die than not have kids.
After exhausting all their available options, they agree to get a surrogate to carry their child. Still, Anjola finds this difficult to accept and keeps trying to conceive any way she can. She strongly believes she cannot love any child not birthed by her. She is also perturbed about the possible backlash and disrespect that may be directed towards her when people find out she used a surrogate.
This is such an intense movie. From the moment her husband comes home from his work trip until the very end, the atmosphere is thick with tension. The conversation moves like a rollercoaster, just when you think a resolution is at hand, it takes off again at breakneck speed, and you find yourself gasping for breath and holding on for dear life.
The way they both move seamlessly between Yoruba and English, and back again, is sublime.
At times, dialogue is gut-wrenching and makes you want to cry, then in the next minute, you find yourself laughing as he teases her about their private moments. You want to punch Folarin in the face when he tells Anjola her attitude is the reason she’s suffering, and she will suffer till she dies.
It closely explores the mind of a woman grappling with the inability to do the one thing she believes she was put on earth for, as well as the mental battle women who settle for the surrogacy path to motherhood face.
For Anjola, surrogacy is a last resort, not a journey she undertakes willingly or lightly.
There is no perfect character in the movie; both are flawed to some degree, but their flaws make them human and truly relatable.
Femi was masterful in his role as Folarin. This is one of the best character interpretations I have ever seen from him. The way he uses his body, the expressions on his face, and the way he delivers his lines are so realistic. You can feel every emotion from deep down within him. His monologues make you stop and listen.
Bolaji is in top form as the woman caught in a hell not of her own making. The way she transforms from a dutiful daughter and wife at the beginning of the movie to a budding psycho as she dances with the glass of red wine in her hand made my jaw drop.
How a cast of two held me spellbound for most of the movie is a testament to their acting prowess, the director’s expertise, and the screenwriter’s multifaceted dialogue.
The set is beautiful, the audio is clear, and every scene is lit to the moment’s mood.
Anjola looked natural, as someone at home should. The focus was not on beauty; it was on portraying a broken woman in pain, and the wardrobe captured that very well.
The movie is a must-watch. I rate it 9/10.
Anjola premiered on 10th May, 2026. It is showing on Bolaji Ogunmola TV on YouTube.
