‘All Na Vibes’ Netflix Movie Review - Meandering and Boring in Every Frame

The title of the film is apparently a local slang that basically means pure vibes or just vibes. The movie has a lot of vibes for sure, but none of it is good. With a runtime of 1 hour and 17 mins, the movie is thankfully on the shorter side, so it doesn't torture viewers with its half-baked ideas and poor screenplay. It's a shame that the film is a jumbled mess of ideas because, in capable hands, it could be something worth watching. After all, the idea of teenage rebellion in the backdrop of political unrest is compelling.

We see Abiola (Tega Ethan) struggling to establish his music career while his parents want him to follow the tried and tested career path of computer coding. He’s portrayed as an upstanding gentleman who is calmer, sensitive, and generally different from his unruly peers. One such rowdy friend of his is Lamidi/ Lambo (Molawa Davis). Lambo mixes with the wrong crowd and has connections that allow him to get drugs for a party he plans on throwing. The third character rounding up the main cast is Sade (Tolu Osaile).

Sade is the titular hot and rich girl of the group. Both Lambo and Abiola want her. Lambo is crass about it while Abiola is shyer. Lambo plans a party to cheer everyone up since the schools are closed due to riots on the streets. But the party goes horribly wrong when Sade, who is herself playing a dangerous game of rebellion, gets kidnapped. Who did this and what happens next forms the crux of the film.

This movie’s biggest fault is that it fails to be compelling or entertaining enough to grab the audience's attention. Directed by Taiwo Egunjobi, there’s not a single frame that stands out among the rest. From the beginning of the film to the end, it follows the same sluggish pace where we amble along from one scene to the next.

As mentioned before, the movie has plenty of great ideas. There's a scene where a chicken is brutally getting beheaded and it's supposed to parallel a death that occurs at the end. The entire thing is a commentary on teenagers who think they are adults but are instead just stupid chickens.

However, the characters or such ideas aren't fleshed out at all. As such, the message of the film gets jumbled up. There's a dialogue that gets repeated both at the beginning and the end of the film. Abiola says you can kill my dreams, but don't kill me. It's a line that foreshadows a lot of things in the movie and is a sad ending line that is basically a plea that falls on the deaf ears of the rich and powerful who don't care about the lives of the people they are representing.

But this message again gets muddled because the movie doesn't know how to connect the plot threads or understand which story beats need to fall where. "All Na Vibes" feels like reading an essay by a student on power, politics, and how it affects the lives of simple people, but the writer has no idea of how to organically arrange and present their ideas.

Regarding the other technical aspects, the less that's said the better. The current crop of shows and movies from Nollywood has been especially disappointing and this one is no different. Overall, give "All Na Vibes" a pass.

Final Score – [3/10]
Reviewed by - Ishita Chatterjee
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Publisher at Midgard Times