A start-up faces unfavorable government laws and police harassment, causing a ripple effect in the lives of nine individuals, setting them on a collision course.
Software developers Themba (Jesse Suntele) and Tayo (Mike Afolarin) have finally launched their latest venture, Easy Go — a new rideshare app to connect Lagos State’s busy commercial motorcyclists (“Okada riders”) with customers in their area. Riding high on capital investments and credible government assurances, the young South African and Nigerian duo can finally envision the fruits of their labour. But after a night of celebrating, the business partners confront a pernicious roadblock familiar to all Nigerian youth — the police. This routine extortion, however, will turn out to be the least of their concerns.
While Easy Go’s developers are street-taxed out of their success, the app takes off. For Abiola (played by Mr. Macaroni, Adebowale Adedayo), a young father and rider, it has been a godsend. That is until the government announces a total ban on Okada, leaving Abiola without his livelihood and the developers feeling as though they’ve been used as political pawns.
Making the leap from music videos to feature film, director Afolabi Olalekan — working with writer and producer Blessing Uzzi — delivers an astute critique and grounded perspective on the noxious political challenges ensnaring young Nigerians from all walks of life. Tying together the tangled drama and disparate characters is the outsized economic pressure driving a generation to look elsewhere for a future they can build. But this is also a narrative born out of love for a city like no other, because in Lagos, “everyone deh full ah hustle,” but corruption still paves the pathways to success.
NATALEAH HUNTER-YOUNG
Content advisory: violence, mature themes
Screenings
Scotiabank 10
TIFF Lightbox 2
Scotiabank 7
Scotiabank 6