Jolly Roger

This Nigerian drama is primarily centred on five people. Friends Brume and Dammy, the two police officers they have taken captive and Brume's wife Najite. It is clear from the start that the two officers are corrupt but it is far from obvious why they in particular have been targeted. Via a series of flashbacks we learn that Brume and Najite have been struggling to conceive a child. Dammy is their doctor and he can't find any obvious reason that they are still childless; how this is relevant to the current predicament is not immediately obvious.

I thought this was a really taut little drama. The present day action takes place within a small apartment which gives a claustrophobic atmosphere. We know from the start that the cops are corrupt but Brume's motives aren't initially obvious; is he another criminal wanting a cut or are his motives deeper? As the story develops there are some solid twists, these are not too obvious, nor are they unrealistic. The cast puts in a fine performance and while occasionally it shows that this wasn't made with a Hollywood budget it doesn't look excessively cheap. Overall I'd recommend this to fans of crime dramas.

Netflix lists this as an English language film; most of the dialogue is in easily understood English but viewers might want to turn on the subtitles as a few lines are in the local language.