Movie
2025
My Father's Shadow is a 2025 drama film directed by Akinola Davies Jr., in his feature length film debut, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Wale Davies. Starring Sope Dirisu, it follows a family reunion during the 1993 Nigerian election. It was theatrically released in Nigeria on 19 September 2025 by FilmOne Entertainment.
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Being absent but your arrival still brings confusion as to loving you more or staying back
My Father's Shadow (2025) is a very thoughtful and unforgettable movie. A movie that tell fatherhood, childhood, uncertainties and politics.
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Some childhood memories stay with us not because they lasted long, but because they were the only moments we had. My Father’s Shadow takes that idea and turns it into a deeply personal story about fatherhood, absence, family and a country going through its own uncertainty.
The movie directed by Akinola Davies Jr. from a screenplay he wrote with his brother Wale Davies, this 2025 drama took us back to Nigeria in 1993, around the tense period surrounding the June 12 presidential election. It is also a semi-autobiographical story, which explains why the film feels less like someone telling us what happened and more like someone remembering it.
The story follows two young brothers, Remi played by Chibuike Marvellous Egbo and Akin played by Godwin Egbo, who live with their mother in a rural part of Nigeria. Their father, Folarin played by Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, has been largely absent from their lives.
Then, unexpectedly, he returns and Folarin needed to travel to Lagos to collect money owed to him, and he decided to take his sons along. What should have been a simple trip became a full day of discovery for the boys.
For them, Lagos is overwhelming. The noise, the people, the traffic, the unfamiliar places, the adults constantly discussing things they don't completely understand but the biggest discovery isn't Lagos. It is their father.
Throughout the journey, the boys began seeing a different side of the man they barely knew. They observed his relationships, his confidence, his vulnerabilities and the things he refuses to explain to them. There are moments of laughter and excitement, but also moments when you can feel the distance between a father and the sons who want to understand him and this is where Sope Dirisu's performance became particularly powerful.
Folarin isn't presented as a perfect father or a terrible one. He is just complicated. He loves his children, but his absence has consequences. He was trying to provide while also carrying his own history, disappointments and emotional wounds.
Meanwhile, the political tension surrounding the 1993 election and its aftermath gradually creeps into the boys' day. The film doesn't stop to give us a history lesson. Instead, the crisis appears through conversations, radio broadcasts, soldiers, changing moods and what the boys observe around them. That choice made the political story feel personal.
Nigeria is struggling to find its future while Folarin is struggling to find his place as a father.
The cinematography by Jermaine Edwards, editing by Omar Guzmán Castro, and music by Duval Timothy and CJ Mirra all contribute to the film's nostalgic, almost dreamlike atmosphere. Also, the fact that the two young actors are real-life brothers also gaves their relationship in the movie a natural quality that is difficult to manufacture.
But I have to warn you about one thing. This is not a movie for someone looking for constant action or dramatic twists because It is slow, observational and intentionally subtle. Some viewers may find the pacing too quiet. But if you allow the movie to breatheeee, then the emotion sneaks up on you.
And by the time you begin to understand what the title My Father's Shadow really means, you may realise that this isn't only a story about a father. It is about the pieces of a parent that children carry with them long after the parent is gone.
That, for me, is what makes this movie worth watching and I'll be dropping my 🖊️ here on the movie review.
Thanks for reading through 🤗
All images are for the movie
Rating: 75/100
My Father's Shadow, a deeply emotional and interesting Nigerian drama, is a movie set in 1993, and that was a year and period that holds bad memories in Nigeria politically. The movie is directed by Akinola Davies Jr. My Father's Shadow starts with Remi and Aki, two young brothers who get an opportunity to spend a day with a father who is always absent and off to work far from the village they stay in.
The father of this children, Folarin played by Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù. They journeyed with their father. It was a long and fun filled day for them, but what started a fun trip with Dad to Lagos, turned out to become an unforgettable journey. It wasn't just an ordinary day, but a day of loss, love, family and discovery for Aki and Remi.
At the center of this drama and story is Folarin, who played the role of a father whose work and activities made his relationship with family complicated. Folarin played by Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù gave a good performance in this movie. He portrayed a man who isn't just strict, but affectionate, a man who is mysterious and vulnerable too. Watching Folarin, it's easy to understand his circumstances, his disappointment and emotional wounds were what shaped him. He's a man with his own pain and struggles who try to be a good father to his sons and connect with them.
One of the greatest strengths of My Father's Shadow is how it tells about Nigeria's political crisis, the events and circumstances surrounding the June 12th presidential election in 1993. The tension of this election and outcome existed around a personal family story. To me, it created a sense that the family and country were just battling with uncertainties. The scenes where they show soldiers, people reading newspapers and arguing about the country and politics. The atmosphere of this movie passes an information that power was about to change hands in the country and things were about to change for Remi and Aki. The political settings and country challenges show the viewers what shaped the life of Folarin and influenced his decisions.
Watching this movie, I couldn't help but admire the performances of the young actors, Godwin Egbo and Chibuike Marvellous Egbo, for first time actors, their performances were really impressive, natural and great. The fact that there are real brothers, made their performance as brothers really natural and real to the viewers. Through their eyes, we saw how exciting and scared they felt while they journeyed for the first time with their father to Lagos. At the end of that journey, it was obvious that they realized that even adults don't have answers to all the questions about life too.
I wasn't born in the 90's, but watching this movie gave me a glimpse of what it was like to exist in a country full of uncertainties. I don't know how to describe the feeling, but it looked like nostalgic feelings you get even when you didn't exist in that time and era.It was a passage of time.
I also enjoyed the setting of this movie, to me Lagos wasn't just a mere setting in this movie, but a setting that capture what the city really feels like , the noise of the environment, the street life of Lagos, the energy and how the uncertainties were captured with unforgettable/ remarkable intimacy. Visually, the director did an amazing job, because every scene was beautiful, worth watching and captivating to me.
Also, this movie taught the importance of memories. We might not have spent months or years with the ones we love, but just a day, a single afternoon, a single journey and conversation can create more impact and memory than we expect. That single memory could be something we get to remember for the rest of our lives about a person.
My father's shadow isn't just a movie that portrays politics, it's not just a political drama. It's a movie that explored fatherhood, childhood, grief, absence and complicated ways family members love each other. To me, this movie was also reflective, the story line wasn't a fast one.
Ultimately, My Father’s Shadow is a very remarkable/ deeply emotional Nigerian movie that uses personal storytelling combined with an important chapter of the country’s history.
The movie is deeply emotional, without being unnecessarily dramatic, it's also political without losing its human heart, and nostalgic without becoming sentimental. I will rate it 80/100. My Father's Shadow is a very beautiful, thoughtful and unforgettable film, and one that stays with you.
Rating: 80/100
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