Tade Ogidan is back from an eight-year hiatus since Family on Fire was released in 2012, and his latest offering Gold Statue feels tonally similar to his 1998 classic Diamond Ring. But without avenging ghosts wanting their property back after being robbed. (sorry Liz Benson). Ogidan brings back Richard Mofe-Damijo and Sola Sobowale as a couple – they both starred in Diamond Ring – and, in the trailer, they are parents to Gabriel Afolayan and Kunle Yemi.
Put bluntly, the trailer isn’t particularly great, but at least it’s narratively coherent enough. Afolayan and Yemi are in search of the titular Gold Statue which is believed to have been a deity inherited by their generation. Through a friend played by Kalu Ikeagwu, they learn that the statue is buried underneath a prison. To get the statue, Afolayan must commit a crime to get access to the penitentiary. The trailer doesn’t give much away though. The movie has a clear intention to be funny, and I think this is Ogidan trying plug Gold Statue into the zeitgeist of Nollywood’s churning production of comedies.
Ogidan ensembles a pretty solid cast: Tina Mba, Nobert Young, Bisola Aiyeola, Rycardo Agbor, Kelvin Ikeduba, Greg Ojefua, Judith Audu, Woli Arole, and Etinosa Idemudia. Gold Statue is out in cinemas May 17, 2019.
When Bernard Dayo isn’t writing about pop culture, he’s watching horror movies and reading comics and trying to pretend his addiction to Netflix isn’t a serious condition.
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