The Wedding Party

Theatrical Release Poster

The Wedding Party, directed by the Lord of visuals, Kemi Adetiba follows the story of Dunni Coker (Adesua Etomi) and Dozie Onwuka (Banky Wellington) and their families on their wedding day. Dunni is the only daughter of her parents Bamidele (Alibaba Akporobome) and Tinuade Coker (Sola Sobowale) and she's a 24 year old virgin getting married to former playboy Dozie whose parents Felix (Richard Mofe Damijo) and Obianuju Onwuka (Ireti Doyle) are not on the same page about the wedding. Obianuju is still bitter after her husband cheated on her years ago and is angry about the fact that her son is getting married to a random girl from Ekiti State. 

Image via Bellanaija.com

The wedding basically goes through everything, from the bride's veil tearing, the wedding planner Wonu (Zainab Balogun) trying to stop guests without invites from getting in and a thief stealing phones and holding the bride's parents and groom's family hostage before getting apprehended. Just like most Nigerian weddings, the guests of the bride and groom are served separately. In this wedding, the groom's guests are served intercontinental dishes which they really didn't like while the bride's guests are served proper Nigerian food, from Amala to Ofada rice courtesy Iya Michael. It was only a matter of time before the groom's guests start returning their food and requesting for some of Iya Michael's delicacies. The wedding is almost ruined when the best man Sola (Ikechukwu Onunaku) after having too many drinks, gives the wrong flash drive to Wonu only for everyone to watch what went down at the Bachelor's party with girls all over Dozie. Dunni runs out of the hall in horror but before she leaves, is confronted by Dozie's former lover Rosie (Beverly Naya) who had slipped a red thong in Dozie's pocket earlier. She tells Dunni that she did that just after she had sex with Dozie. Believing her lies, Dunni leaves in a cab.

Image via 360Nobs.com

Image via Bellanaija.com

The groom finally finds her in her 'favorite spot' by the beach and begs her not to believe anything Rosie said and apologizes for the video. They both go back to the wedding party and Obianuju finally seems happy about her new daughter in law and shows this by giving her a hug. The Wedding Party tops my list of the best Nollywood movies in 2016. There were a lot of funny moments but I liked the fact that the story was very real and typical of what happens in most Nigerian weddings. This movie willl definitely leave you smiling out of the theater. Sola Sobowale was definitely the best part about this movie. No one would have acted this role better than her.

Image via 360Nobs.com

 I have to commend Banky Wellington for taking on such a role. For someone who has never been in a movie, he did a wonderful job as Dozie and I definitely look forward to seeing more of him in the future. Zainab Balogun as Wonu was definitely fun to watch. One of my favorite scenes with Wonu was when she had to drop her act of not understanding Yoruba to beg Iya Michael for more food. Whoever picked the cast deserves a thumbs up because they all delivered amazing performances. Whenever I see "Directed by Kemi Adetiba", I know that project will come out with breath taking visuals and she definitely didn't disappoint with this one.Though it focused on Nigerian culture from the clothes to the cultural dance and even the food, The Wedding Party also centered around family and its importance. If you're yet to see this, I suggest you do. It will definitely leave you smiling till the credits roll up. 

Rating: 9.5/10

Written by Kemi Adetiba, Tosin Otudeko

Directed by Kemi Adetiba

Starring Adesua Etomi, Banky Wellington, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Ireti Doyle, Sola Sobowale, Alibaba Akporobome, Zainab Balogun, Daniella Down, Ikechukwu Onunaku, Somkele Iyamah, Beverly Naya, Enyinna Nwigwe
Release Date December 16, 2016
Running Time 1hr 45mins

View the trailer below;