Chinaza Onuzo’s 2020 movie Who’s the Boss is a rom-com that has all the makings of a millennial hustle culture Lagos film; nightclub scene, friendship trio, and someone who works at an ad agency. Work as a point of conflict has made movies a lot more relatable for younger audiences as it is the main concern in an increasingly difficult economy.
So when Sharoon Ooja stars opposite Funke Akindele in this Inkblot-produced work flick, of course, it is going to get a lot of viewers. Let’s get into it.
Plot
Who’s the Boss tells the story of Liah, an overworked and overlooked advertising agency creative; and Hauwa – an insatiable boss who sabotages her chances at a promotion. Liah decides to invent another boss, Lekan, to front for the side hustle start-up agency she uses to explore her creative pursuits. Her world begins to unravel when her start-up wins a lucrative contract and she is thrust into the spotlight.
Cast
The film’s star-studded cast features Sharon Ooja, Funke Akindele, Blossom Chukwujekwu, Segun Arinze, Beverly Osu, Ini Dima-Okojie, Gbubemi Ejeye, and Tayo Faniran.
Review
Warning: Spoilers Ahead
First off, Who’s the Boss adequately encapsulates what it’s like being a millennial working in Nigeria. Being skilled and efficient is not enough if you do not have someone committed/indifferent to your progress. Liah (Sharon Ooja) obviously has better ideas than her boss but Hauwa (Funke Akindele) constantly shuts her down. This alone is such a reality for young workers in Nigeria that it is enough to keep audiences invested in the story.
This also applies to Lekan (Blossom Chukwujekwu) and how his partners screwed him out of his company. This is another sad reality for Nigerians especially those in the diaspora, who encounter a new set of challenges when starting their own companies and navigating the corporate world abroad.
I loved how convincing the backstories of the supporting characters were; so as a support system, Liah’s friends weren’t two-dimensional characters with nothing but comic relief and wise words. They were real. Liah and Lekan’s romance was quite organic and was one of the solid points in this movie. However, I did not like how his rejecting sex from a beautiful woman (Gbubemi Ejeye) was such a noble act that bore emphasis. Congrats, Lekan, I guess?
Her friendship with Jumoke (Ini Dima-Okojie) seemed real and wholesome and was my favourite thing about the movie. And unlike most Nigerian films, Who’s the Boss actually bothered to explain how Jumoke and Liah could afford their apartment.
What was also interesting was how they gave us a glimpse into Liah’s mind and showed what she wanted to do to Hauwa. This highly increased the comedic factor; a lot better than adding in an Instagram comedian for disjointed slapstick humour. Chinaza Onuzo did a marvellous job writing this film.
Dragging time
The only problem with it was the annoying main character. The protagonist is usually forced to push the plot forward when she is backed into a corner; but for Liah, her reactions seem poorly timed and at times not passionate enough. She could have used a little bit more riling up before delivering the explosive news to Hauwa that she was indeed behind the ad company Aneah. If this film was a battle between the old and the new, Liah does not make a good representative for the new.
The film went out of its way to make Hauwa’s ideas bad and framed her as such a terrible person that the redemption arc she received in the end was completely undeserved. Liah’s forgiveness of Hauwa was extremely kind of her despite knowing that Hauwa intentionally blocked her promotion and demoted her. However, her decision to leave Apex in a farce of female solidarity; despite Tunde (Segun Arinze) being nothing but kind to her seemed like a last-minute attempt to inject some pseudo-feminism into the movie. Women should support women but definitely not in this case.
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Hauwa wanted to sue Liah and kill Aneah in its crib but Tunde made the decision to merge the two agencies to help Liah. He was even willing to give her Hauwa’s job which she so clearly deserved. And after being abused, disrespected, undermined, bullied, threatened, and held back by Hauwa, forgiving her would have been enough. But walking out on Aneah and Tunde was uncalled for and not properly thought through. Like, what now?
A lot of Liah’s actions which should have come across as a strength of character instead make her look weak and indecisive. Understandably, we need a certain level of indecision to keep the story realistic and compelling; but it seemed too much in Liah’s case. I kept waiting for Liah to stop being so spineless and put some bass in her voice. But it never happened. It was as though everyone around her had to constantly remind her of what she wanted.
That said, aside from Liah’s failure at being a protagonist, Who’s The Boss is still a pretty great movie and definitely deserves a watch, like anything from Chinaza Onuzo.
