The final half of 2018 saw the premiere of unforgettable movies like “Sylvia”, “Knock Out Blessing”, “Lionheart” & “King of Boys” and I’ve been on the look out for another outstanding film and I’m happy to say The Set Up has been added to that list. With a stellar cast that includes Adesua Etomi-Wellington, Kehinde Bankole, Dakore Egbuson-Alan’s, Tina Mba and Jim Iyke and directed by The Arbitration and The Wedding Party 2’s Niyi Akinmolayan, The Set Up follows Chike (Etomi-Wellington) and her best friend Grace (Bankole) who are drawn into a web of deceit when they are hired by a socialite (Iyke) to assist with his scheme to marry a wealthy heiress.
I had no doubts about Akinmolayan’s directing skills and he delivered yet again with The Set Up. Etomi-Wellington did a great job as Chike and I loved her and Bankole together even though I wish we got more of the two characters in their younger years. I always get super excited whenever I see Tina Mba’s name attached to any film because she never ever disappoints. She’s such a great actress and I think she should get more credit for her outstanding acting skills. Although, I didn’t think she was as scary as the writers wanted her to be as “The Madam” but she still did a great job. I wish we got more of Adesua kicking some ass but unfortunately, we didn't get more than what was shown in the trailer and I thought it was quite disappointing.
I’ll admit, The Set Up had a great story but it’s execution could have been better with the flash back scenes being the biggest issue. For a start, in Mba’s flashback scenes as Enitan, she literally looked the same and so did Joke Silva who plays Toyin Elesho. Those scenes would looked more believable with younger actresses since Nollywood is still trying to get a grip of the de-aging technology. I couldn’t help but wonder why they had to show the viewers some scenes more than once when telling the story through each of the characters perspective. I found that to be totally unnecessary and a means to only make the movie longer than required. The character development in The Set Up was quite poor and it made it hard to sympathize with the characters and actually understand why they made crazy choices.
Yolanda Okereke did a great job with the wardrobe and the set design was on point. The cinematography is one of the best I’ve seen from Nollywood this year but nothing tops the soundtrack which I think is the best thing about this film.
The Set Up is still showing in cinemas across Nigeria.
RATING 7/10
DIRECTOR Niyi Akinmolayan
STARRING Adesua Etomi-Wellington, Kehinde Bankole, Tina Mba, Jim Iyke, Dakore Egbuson-Akande, Joke Silva
RELEASE DATE August 9th, 2019
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