A Nigerian Revenge Thriller Is Dominating Netflix's Worldwide Charts
A world-weary ex-hitman is forced to venture back to the criminal underworld he abandoned, all in the name of avenging the death of someone dear. No, this is not the plot of "John Wick," but the Nigerian crime thriller "The Black Book," which is currently topping Netflix charts worldwide, thanks to a gritty, engaging plot with sincere emotional stakes. Editi Effiong's "The Black Book" was four years in the making and worked with a budget of $1 million, and the crime-thriller defied expectations by quickly claiming a spot among the Top 10 list since its release on Netflix last week.
So, what makes "The Black Book" so special compared to contemporary crime-thrillers that are tinted with similar themes of shady criminal underworlds and personal revenge? For one, the film fleshes out a visceral picture of crime and corruption, where forces of the law blatantly kill a man in broad daylight without repercussions or remorse. The rules of this world are dangerous and unpredictable, ever-shifting as per the evolving status quo between the police and crime gangs in power. After the son of a deacon is murdered, the father, Paul Edima (Richard Mofe-Damijo), decides to unleash the demons within him that he had been desperately keeping in check all these years.
Edima's return to the criminal underworld requires him to reach out to his long-time allies, and this journey leads to an unexpected collaboration with a journalist who's hell-bent on exposing this seedy underbelly of corruption. There are some heavy themes explored here, enmeshed with thrilling action sequences and character studies that are masterful and methodical, making "The Black Book" worth engaging with.
Revenge is a dish best served cold
Effiong paints a vivid picture of the socio-political issues that plague contemporary Nigeria, using the fictional backdrop of the film to highlight a shadowy world of drug trafficking and power hierarchies that mold the nation one crime at a time. If people attempt to upset those in power, the repercussions are serious and immediate: Professor Craig (Bimbo Akintola) pays the price for caring about her community when her husband and child are kidnapped as a result of her efforts to protect small businesses. The kidnapping is blamed on Edima's son, who is innocent, which is followed by his death soon after. All of this consumes Edima with rightful rage.
A black book, which served as a diary that was used to keep track of gang-related incidents by Edima himself before he retired, becomes the point of interest and concern here. This book, which is currently out of reach, is the only piece of evidence that can prove Edima's son's innocence and help punish those who are guilty of systemic oppression and violence. However, nothing is fair in a world built on inequity, which seeps into every superstructure. Thus, Edima is forced to take more unsavory routes and fight his way through countless obstacles to enact the justice that he thinks his son deserves.
While "The Black Book" doesn't offer anything groundbreaking, as it retreads popular genre tropes in ways that are fairly predictable, the experience is still satisfying, as Effiong enmeshes disparate elements pretty well by the time the climax drops. Sure, there's a consistent penchant for melodrama, but this exaggerated tone complements Edima's angst-filled revenge arc until the very end.
"The Black Book" is currently streaming on Netflix.