Review- The Royal Hibiscus Hotel (2018)

Image via Imdb.com

The Romantic Comedy follows Ope (Zainab Balogun), the daughter of Segun (Jide Kosoko) and Rose Adeniyi (Rachel Oniga) who own the prestigious Royal Hibiscus Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria. Ope returns home to Lagos after quitting her job as a chef in a restaurant in London and plans to transform the hotel with her exotic meals only to find out that her parents are selling the hotel to Deji (Kenneth Okolie), a business man who she falls in love with. Will love conquer all or will Ope give up on love and pursue her dream? To be very honest, I went into the theater expecting The Royal Hibiscus Hotel to be like every regular Nollywood Romantic Comedy but I was pleasantly surprised by how almost flawless it was. They couldn’t have picked a better cast for this film. Zainab Balogun is a phenomenal actress and she played Ope with such class. Mr Nigeria himself, Kenneth Okolie did a great job with his role and I was in love with Rachel Oniga as Ope’s mom, Rose. Her chemistry with fellow Nollywood veteran Jide Kosoko was fantastic. It didn’t feel forced in any way. Although, I don’t think I loved Kemi “Lala” Akindoju’s “Chika”. She’s an amazing actress but for some reason I felt like she was doing too much in most of her scenes and they just seemed very unrealistic.

Image via Imdb.com

Another thing this film got right was the way it was filmed. The aerial shots were stunning and perfectly shot. I couldn’t get enough of the breathtaking views of The Lekki- Ikoyi Bridge, The Royal Hibiscus Hotel and Eko Hotel. It was beautiful. I loved the fact that the soundtrack was filled with amazing Nigerian songs. From Nonso Amadi’s “Tonight” to Mr Eazi’s “Skintight” and Johnny Drille’s “Romeo & Juliet”. I loved the fact that this film isn’t just plain comedy that ends up being annoying. It had a story line that flowed with the humor. The Royal Hibiscus Hotel is honestly one of the best Nollywood Romantic comedies I’ve seen in a really long time. It didn’t seem like they were just trying to milk the audience out of their coins by putting out “another comedy film”, they gave us a story and characters that we could somehow relate to. Ishaya Bako did a fantastic job directing this film. Do yourself a favor and see The Royal Hibiscus Hotel.

RATING 9/10

DIRECTOR Ishaya Bako

WRITER Ishaya Bako

CAST Zainab Balogun, Kenneth Okolie, Jide Kosoko, Rachel Oniga, Deyemi Okanlanwon

RELEASE DATE February 8, 2018

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