With screenplay by Fatimah Binta Gimsay, this Nollywood film titled “CLOUT” is directed by Great Valentine Edochie and produced by Bolaji Ogunmola (also starring as Lolly). The comedy drama released on the 19th of August, 2025, with a runtime of 1hour 40minutes is currently streaming on the producer’s YouTube channel with same name.
SYNOPSIS: (MAY contain spoilers)
Lolly (Bolaji Ogunmola) and Dede (Femi Jacobs) are two peas in a pod. When by a stroke of chance, a livestream goes viral, the couple would do anything within their means to milk the situation in order to stay relevant for as long as possible. Things are going relatively easy-peasy till they realised they had bitten more than they could chew.
MY TAKE:
Performance/Role Delivery:
The presence of Femi Jacobs carried this film throughout. He was everything the movie needed to be both comedic and dramatic.
His line delivery, facial expressions and general body language were impeccable through and through. But even so, his performance couldn’t save the movie much from its many loopholes too glaring to overlook.
Bianca Ugowanne who played the role of Tade did great with her character interpretation. Bolaji Ogunmola did what she does best too. But that’s about the most catchy thing about the movie.
Story/Plot/Direction:
The story is different, plot should have been good but overall, it lacked consistency which then jeopardised the end result of the movie. The director appears to have taken a higgy hagga approach to storytelling here – nothing challenging. Okay! I get it…I get it…it’s a dramedy! Alright alright…be that as it may, some things should still make sense, right?
Crew/Technical Aspect:
While the setting, makeup and costumes are okay, I find that most scenes could do with some good soundtrack or accompanying sound effects to set the right pace, tone and comic ambience. Hence, some scenes which would naturally have been funny were left too dry and bland, bereft of sound.
Lessons to learn:
The movie which highlights how people allow themselves to be controlled by social media money despite its flaws has some vital lessons thus:
- A social media presence built on lies can hardly stand the test of time.
- Be careful what you put out there as content as it may affect your life outside of the media. But the truth is do people care anymore?
- Believe what you see on social media at your own peril. Some social media users are utterly gullible. They take all they see online hook line sinker.
- Many of these content creators only show you what they want you to see. Hence think twice before you react to the next big news.
OBSERVATION/QUESTIONS:
As the story progresses, one can’t help but notice certain things and ask certain questions:
- Before the couple stumbled upon their online fame, what did they do for a living to maintain that lifestyle and such standard of living given the nature & setting of their house? This is because at the opening scene, we see Lolly who couldn’t afford to buy her husband’s best cereal, came back complaining to Dede who was sat with a typical work-from-home look in front of his camera with his daily motivational nuggets.
- The couple, we are told both had under 1k followers and in one month their followings grew exponentially as a result of a mistake video which went viral. Was it within this time they made that much money? We don’t know.
- How could they afford to put their supposed twins in a boarding school since we didn’t know the kind of job they did prior? Were they fired from a previous job? Did they resign to focus on content creation? We were not given this info. Or did I miss it?
- The beginning of the movie could be off-putting for an impatient viewer as some dialogues & scenes appeared to be overly repetitive while some dragged. The movie for me didn’t quite hit it until the second act. Then, by the third act, it went downhill again just when it was beginning to gain momentum
- Some parts were nice but some parts were not. What right did that blogger Tade have to stalk and harass Dede in that manner? Is she a police officer or an investigative journalist? That didn’t make sense if you ask me. When Dede opened the door and realised she was the one, he could have easily told her off but he let her in. Couldn’t help but give an eye roll at that scene, to be honest.
- We never got to see the couple’s twins that they always refer to. Were they audio twins? Not even a photo of them on the wall in their living room or a flashback with them in it. Again, did I miss it?
- Lolly, towards the end went to bed with people clamouring online, frowning at what she and her husband did. But then she wakes up to people supporting them. How? Well, let’s just say “weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning” Yeah right!
- The movie is somewhat relatable but how many men would do what Dede kept doing? He allowed himself to be gaslighted and guilt tripped into going against his will time and time again. Did he not have his own free will? How indecisive can a person be?
- Was that the end? Are we expecting a sequel? Can Lolly live without Dede? Will Dede comeback?
- For how this movie ended, what narrative was it trying to push? That there are no other real consequences to deceiving the public to the extent the couple went?
Conclusion:
Were it not for the inconsistencies and loopholes, had the organisers taken enough time to develop the story properly, this would have had a far better outcome. The movie subtly touched on shadow banning (when a content creator experience a period when their engagement reduces), hence, we can say it’s educational in that regard. Overall, some would find it funny and interesting but it didn’t exactly do it for me.
Verdict: 4.5/10
