Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Ijogbon’ on Netflix, A Nigerian Fable Centered Around Another Set of Uncut Gems

Chaos. That’s the subtitle/translation of Ijogbon (now streaming on Netflix), and it doesn’t take long to learn why that’s a fitting name for what plays out on screen. Stumbling onto unknown riches in southwest Nigeria plays out the same way as it might anywhere else in the world — a mad dash to reap the profits, even if it comes at someone else’s expense.

IJOGBON: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: A group of young kids — Oby, Jamiu, Ranti, and Omooba — stumble upon a hidden bag full of uncut diamonds in their rural Nigerian village. A debate breaks out over what to do with the treasure they discovered, a preview of the dissent that will arise along every step of the path. The first reaction thing they can agree on is, of course, to go cash in by buying some flashy technology and luxurious goods. But they soon set their sights on something bigger: a future beyond their borders. Unsurprisingly, no one just leaves a big bag of diamonds lying around without caring to go back and look for them. A group of “investors” comes looking to develop the town of Oyo Oke, but the real aim is to get the gems back at any cost … even if that means involving the kids’ families and the community at large.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: A Nigerian twist on Blood Diamond and Uncut Gems.

Performance Worth Watching: While the film does flatten the character Oby out for her gender to be a symbolic counterweight to all the squabbling boys, Ruby Akubueze is the standout of the four teenagers.

Memorable Dialogue: “You need to discipline your children,” an Amotekun guard lectures at the end of the film. “Parents often pay for the foolishness of their children. The recklessness of one inevitably affects us. I am saying this so peace can reign!”

Sex and Skin: The only thing uncut are the gems.

Our Take: Ijogbon opens with a prologue that intercuts a campfire fable and a gritty real-life pursuit, a balancing act reflective of what director Kunle Afolayan tries to achieve throughout the film. He constantly wants it both ways: literal and metaphorical, juvenile and adult, immediate and abstract. The film ultimately can never quite reconcile all the contradictions, so Ijogbon feels like a jarring tonal mix to experience. The swings don’t feel motivated by the natural rhythms of life so much as they do by the indecisive screenplay of Tunde Babalola. When the film does finally find its footing towards the bloody end, it’s too bad that the solid ground it settles on is one of pat moralizing. 

Our Call: SKIP IT. Ijogbon is a little too chameleonic for its own good. This Nollywood film can’t quite find the right balance between its fable-like qualities and its grounded realism.

Marshall Shaffer is a New York-based freelance film journalist. In addition to Decider, his work has also appeared on Slashfilm, Slant, The Playlist and many other outlets. Some day soon, everyone will realize how right he is about Spring Breakers.

Watch Ijogbon on Netflix