A Tribe Called Judah: Funke Akindele Finally Wins The Box Office With Excellence

Funke Akindele has mastered family holiday blockbusters, but A Tribe Called Judah is her first box office hit that's truly crafted with excellence.

A few minutes into A Tribe of Judah, the crowd starts laughing. The laughter which starts in pockets of the cinema hall and soon fills the theatre begins when Funke Akindele’s character Jedidah Judah blessing pictures of her kids with holy water and continues as she tears into a sachet of alcohol and makes that wretched face we all make when we gulp strong gin and it disorients our body for a quick second.

The laughter continues throughout the film; even when it gets serious — and it gets really serious — the laughter never ceases. Akindele’s latest December offering is a triumph as it manages to do a few things her equally successful December outings could not. Omo Ghetto: The Saga, released two years ago, is a lacklustre film that pushed our ability to tolerate boring chaos, yet it was successful. Battle on the Buka Street is a film whose success confused me. It wasn’t good storytelling; the performances weren’t memorable either despite starring strong performers like Akindele and Mercy Johnson, but it broke every record at Nigeria’s box office. 

Both films are typical Akindele fare. Cash grabs with some jokes and a lot of star power that don’t always combine well. The formulaic approach to them sometimes makes for tedious viewing, so when she announced A Tribe Called Judah with a star-studded cast surrounding her, there was not much to be excited about the film itself. The focus was on the numbers it would do, but this film is different. 

The story revolves around Jedidiah and her five boys from different fathers of different tribes. But she’s not wayward or careless, her case is just unique. She got pregnant as a teen and her cleric father disowned her, forcing her into the streets (yes, Akindele peppers this film with some good ol’ message). Then she meets several men; one will die, one will run away with her money and return to his original family, and one she’s too ashamed to parent with him. 

We meet all her kids when she tries to stop a case of domestic violence and the man tries to hit her. Her youngest, the naive and sweet Ejiro, calls his brothers. First, Emeka, the firstborn with body odour; Adamu, the security guard; lastly, the irresponsible duo of Shina and Pere, a thug and an unrepentant thief, respectively. They arrive at the scene to deal with the man. 

A Tribe Called Judah starts showing its more serious side when Pere (a wonderful Timini Egbuson), the thief, is almost lynched by an angry crowd. Jedidiah jumps into the crowd as they pour fuel on him, prioritising rescuing her son over her safety. It is that instinctive motherly love that deprioritises their safety when their kids are in danger. It is a trait that Jidedah has in abundance and will showcase throughout the film. She rescues him, but weeps bitterly that night to her first son, telling him she is tired of her useless sons, and tired of remaining poor despite working hard. This frustrates their eldest son who almost beats them for stressing his mum. Their stress will get to her one day and she slumps after settling an argument. 

At the hospital, they are informed she has hypertensive chronic kidney disease and will require millions of Naira for her treatment. Of course, they don’t have the money; as they struggle to find it, an interesting idea, a heist, is birthed. After much hesitation, Emeka, the diligent eldest boy, agrees to follow his brothers on the heist at his workplace.

Akindele clearly has plenty to say about motherhood and the family dynamics that shape mothers; this is evident in Battle on the Buka Street. But she also wants you to have fun while getting her message; she finally achieves this in A Tribe Called Judah. This film is immensely fun, but it is also a film that evokes strong emotions, blending humour with moments of agony, thereby creating a more emotionally resonant experience.

The rallying the Jedidiah boys do after their mum falls sick is sweet and relatable. They disagree often and are individually different, but their love for Jedidiah is a unifying bond. The writers of the film — Akindele, Collins Okoh and Akinlabi Ishola — establishing this conflict between brothers early makes their unification even more endearing. And it is a bond that extends to the viewers, we journey with them on their mission to save their mother, even though it involves stealing from someone. So when something inevitably goes wrong, we share in their pain.

Akindele has mastered family holiday blockbusters. For the past two years, she has co-directed and produced the highest-grossing films of the year, consequently, Nollywood’s all-time grosser. However, one of the curses of winning at the box office is that her film often escapes the examination and scrutiny that push creators to go far and beyond. We are content with referring to her films as mere cash grabs that happen every December; their quality, which is often lacking, is hardly ever questioned.

The film signifies a significant shift. It is the first time Akindele will win at the box office with excellence. It’s not the typical crude jokes you will find in her films after the success of the Jenifa franchise. It is set in a poor neighbourhood, but no one is a coloured caricature or speaks with an accent that announces their lack of education and exposure. It is Akindele taking herself and us, the audience, even more seriously — a successful filmmaker not resting on her laurels but challenging herself to give even more. 

It is these little changes that make you happy for A Tribe Called Judah, a film that will eviscerate the box office, win the audience over and possibly rule the award season, especially in the acting categories. If this happens, it could potentially change the perception of Nollywood’s December offerings, from mere cash grabs into opportunities for the industry to showcase its best with the spotlight firmly on it. 

This review was originally published in In Nollywood’s The Industry #3.