Efunroye: The Unicorn is a Nollywood movie released in cinemas in 2026, but it had controversial hype in 2024, when production was announced. The movie is a biopic about a notable Yoruba woman, Efunroye Tinubu, in precolonial Lagos. The Tinubu in her name generated outrage against the movie. The outrage came from some Nigerians who hate President Bola Tinubu and, for whatever reason, thought the movie glorified his name.
Synopsis: Efunroye: The Unicorn, produced by and starring Faithia Williams, chronicles the life of Madam Efunroye Tinubu, a powerful 19th-century merchant and kingmaker in Yorubaland. The film depicts her rise from a trader near Abeokuta to a dominant political and economic force in Lagos, covering her marriage to an exiled Oba and her resistance against British colonial influence.
The movie stars Faithia Williams, Femi Adebayo, Ibrahim Yekini (Itele), Layi Wasabi, Mercy Aigbe, and Odunlade Adekola. It was directed by Abbey Lanre, Adebayo Tijani, and Tope Adebayo Salami
Knowing that the movie is a biopic of a 19th-century figure, we expected it to have the colour grading typical of that category. However, this movie didn’t deliver on that front, as it looks very modern, typical of contrasty Nollywood movies.
The directors of Efunroye: The Unicorn ought to have displayed some flamboyant costumes. Nothing in this movie stands out in terms of costume. The only brilliance was the white attire worn by the palace chiefs.
The horse ridden by Yesufu Bada was too skinny; we could count the ribs. We found it worrisome that it was ridden by a warlord. If a warlord could be riding a bony horse, then it means he has never been victorious in any war to reap the spoils of war, which will include healthy horses.
The set design in this movie didn’t speak of the past. The paintings made the houses look too modern. The fence of Iga Idungaran, the palace of the Lagos monarch, was made with cardboard. They look weak and almost collapsed in the scene where a Portuguese and local security officers attempted to arrest a masquerade. This showed that the film was made on a low budget. We wonder when biopics started getting shot on a low budget.
The director’s attempts to portray Efunroye as a tough woman failed to evoke the right emotions. For instance, there is a scene in which Efunroye ordered some slaves to be drowned in a river because some Portuguese slave buyers couldn’t afford the amount she required for the sale. According to her, she prefers drowning the slaves to selling them for cheap. We believe that scene was designed to make viewers fear Efunroye. Unfortunately, the acting and the execution failed to leave that impact on us. The scene felt unnecessary. The slaves also didn’t look like they were afraid of being thrown into the river. If they had been dramatic with cries and fear, perhaps that would have evoked emotions. Even when they were thrown into the river, they floated rather than drowned.
We had expected to see the kind of toughness displayed by Efunsetan in the epic classic Efunsetan Aniwura, produced by Mainframe Pictures. Sadly, the directing and acting in Efunroye were poor. Different plots sprang up and died prematurely. When the movie felt like it had no head, Femi Adebayo came through with his role as Kosoko, threatening fire and brimstone. The accompanying soundtrack also wiped the sleep off our faces as we expected action henceforth. Unfortunately, Kosoko ended up like the other dead plots, and we never saw Femi Adebayo again.
The roles portrayed by Odunlade Adekola and Mercy Aigbe were not significant and could have been perfectly played by a lesser-known actor. But Nollywood seems to have encouraged this practice of featuring only close friends who are part of a consortium. It seems good at the moment, but bad for Nollywood in the long run because no new idea will enter such a fold.
Basically, Efunroye: The Unicorn is about a slave trader, kingmaker and political juggernaut. It depicts her marital struggles and desire to have children again. Unfortunately, it teaches no lesson. We left the cinema with a bitter taste, which was later wiped off when we saw Segilola: The Villain.
Efunroye: The Unicorn gets 5/10.
