Meilleurs voeux de Lagos

This movie had me cracking up from the start. It's about 3 single brothers who are disappointing their mother because they haven't yet gotten married / have no kids. The brothers all have different reasons why they're still bachelors and it's a funny movie. I absolutely love Nigerian culture. 7/10.

As the title suggests, this is a Christmas themed movie for Nigerians.

The story is nothing we haven't seen before but its told from a Nigerian perspective, its funny, quirky and the dialogue is great when compared with others available in the Nigerian market.

Each member of cast is given adequate time to shine and shine they very well did! Production was good (obviously a Netflix Original so $$), pacing was great (can't believe I sat through a comedy of 2hrs without noticing), jokes were perfectly timed, all in all it was a great effort at a Christmas themed Naija movie.

I totally enjoyed the movie, would definitely recommend (to my Naija folks!).

The story has a lovely premise.

But if you're gonna tell a Nigerian story, at least tell it in a Nigerian way.

I couldn't help but notice the undertones of Western culture (and yes, a lot of Nigerian modern lifestyle is influenced by the West,) but to go so far as even patterning the dialogue after Western culture, that's too far.

The breakups and the relationship dynamics broke my last straw.

I love this movie, but as an ardent observer of Western cinema, it feels like a copy.

Whether it is a Nigerian copy of a Western story, or a Western copy of a Nigerian story, sometimes I just can't tell.

A Naija Christmas As with almost any new high budget Nigerian movie, it aims for comedic relief and heavily lies in tropes. A fairly straightforward plot that delivers nothing new, save being the first Nigerian Christmas themed movie. Because of the heavy reliance on comedic elements, the plot isn't allowed to develop to have darker moments as such moments were snuffed out (a little letdown.) The casting was sweet. Seeing many familiar faces from YouTube series getting a shot into the spotlight was thrilling! (Segilola ogidan, Ade laoye & Abayomi Alvin.) Mercy Johnson finally gets a new nollywood movie where she can shine appropriately (Seven and a half dates & the ghost and the tout too, she can finally be forgiven for those travesties.)

The plot was pretty straightforward, we could guess the end from the beginning; it was a feel-good watch

DELICIOUS

---A beautifully selected cast😃 Linda Osifo, Segilola Ogidan, and Ade Laoye brought a fresh look to the film.

Carol King was elegantly stunning and the rest of the cast worked hard to deliver a natural and genuine performance

--- A Naija Christmas sent a nice signal to parents that certain norms have to change when it comes to marriage: "it's not by force😆"

---The director of photography and the color grading team produced quality images that blended with the festive mood of the film

---The art director transported us into each actor's universe with a detailed decor

BLAND

---Screenplay was ok, apart from the little twists, there wasn't anything too gripping. The lines were rather cheesier than comic

---When you have a big celebrity like Mercy Johnson-Okojie, you expect her to have a significant role, which wasn't the case. Hence, we started wondering why a regular actress couldn't have played her role.

Rachel Oniga's absence in major parts of the film weakened the storytelling

---Overall, Naija Christmas appeared more like an American Christmas movie mostly due to the Christmasy score and flimsy scene sequences.