Written by Funke Akindele in collaboration with several others, directed by herself & Tunde Olaoye and produced by same Funke in conjunction with two others through her production company FAAN, this film titled “EVERYBODY LOVES JENIFA” is now streaming on Prime Video.

As a spinoff or offshoot of the popular TV series “JENIFA’S DIARY” by Funke Akindele, this comedy drama with a runtime of 2hours was hitherto released to cinemas on the 13th of December, 2024 and was made available on the streaming platform mentioned above on the 29th of August, 2025.

SYNOPSIS: (MAY contain spoilers)

After helping the fire service to rescue a child stuck in a burning building in Amen Estate, Suliat ‘Jenifa’ Adedeji (Funke Akindele) is honoured with a Humanitarian award by the Residents of the Estate Association.

When a new family Mr. Lawrence ’Lobster’ Anyanwun (Stan Nze) & Mrs. Olivia Anyanwun (Nancy Isime) move into the Estate as new residents, Jenifa is hellbent on convincing Lobster to pull in the weight of his NGO (rehabilitation program) to help with her own NGO (skills acquisitions). Things would eventually go South as Jenifa seeks the help of Madam Bassey (Bisola Aiyeola) who runs a domestic violence NGO.

MY TAKE:

Phew! Where do I start? Okay here we go:

Story/Plot:

The story seeks to highlight the need for fire safety, domestic violence, human rights violation, drug trafficking, corruption in the police force, hypocrisy, love, forgiveness and the need to have a structure even as a small scale business; whether nonprofit agencies or otherwise.

The plot sets to pursue the foregoing, however, the style of storytelling here made it appear like the movie had a lot going on and struggled to perfectly or solidly establish a majority of these. From the start, it seemed too many things were happening pari-passu as it felt all over the place.

The subplots also felt disjointed especially the trip to Ghana which seemed to have sprung up, out of the blue. Consequently, that part seemed detached from the start of the film.

Direction:

Sequencing looked rushed. Scenes appear detached and not exactly in sync. First act, second act and third act seemed like three different movies altogether: let’s just say it’s “Jenifa the fire fighter”, “Jenifa the NGO RUNNER” and Jenifa the Ghana/Naija Drugs investigator cum lover girl!

If the organisers had opted to make this a mini/limited series with say three to five episodes, perhaps, the multiple subplots would have been developed properly and explored more thereby giving more impact to all the elements highlighted here.

Casting/Role Delivery:

The movie featured too many casts than were actually needed. At the end of watching this, you may eventually forget you ever saw some actors. E.g Lateef Adedimeji, Cute Abiola, etc. There were also too many cameos. Hilda Bacci & Veekee James appeared here briefly. Apparently, this was all a marketing ploy by the producer than it was of a necessity.

Be that as it may, the main actors put up a stellar performance in the interpretation of their roles. Worthy of mention is Madam Bassey brilliantly depicted by Bisola Aiyeola. That was pure art! Please take your flowers.

Adaku, played by Omotunde Adebowale David the unrepentant foodie was also a great part of the movie! Layi Wasabi as Rex was a clever actor making the others literally LOOK UP TO him due to his height…lol!

Bebe portrayed by Jackie Appiah was a breath of fresh air in the movie. She was powerful, feared yet empathetic and with a good sense of humour.

Technical Aspect:

Cinematography here was good. The opening scene with the fire appeared real and believable. The Visuals are vivid. Location is good too. Costume and makeup are also great but what’s with Madam Bassey’s wig? I feel that character had more to offer than we saw.

Observation/Questions:

1. What was the cause of that fire at the start of the movie? Since Jenifa mentioned the need for fire safety, it would have been rather effective to see what triggered the fire in the first place.

2. Why was nearly everyone in the estate having NGO’s? Perhaps, the movie should have been titled “Jenifa & the Battle of the NGOs”

3. The relationship between Lobster and Angel (portrayed by Destiny Etiko), we don’t know if truly there was anything going on between them. Viewers are only left with imaginations of whether or whethern’t!

4. Some characters vanished without explanation. Would have loved to see Nancy again after her coma! Timini too.

5. For someone who speaks in that manner, Jenifa sure has some ginormous vocabulary! This makes the accent & speech mannerisms unbelievable and sound forced. Using words like beclouding, palpitation, schizophrenia, paranoia even to the point of using the phrase “cat got your tongue” (in her own way) ah! Maybe, it’s just me but that wasn’t connecting!

6. A viewer who hasn’t been following the Jenifa’s diary all these years may not really grasp the true beauty of this movie nor necessarily understand some of the characters like Timini (Tobi Makinde), etc Possibly, some sort of backstory by way of flashback would have helped.

7. The plot twist involving Toyosi (played by Olayode Juliana) seemed forced; more like an afterthought.

8. Why was Jenifa given a hero’s welcome at the end of the movie? For all we know, she had been duly awarded at the start. This to me then felt more mechanical (a way to fit in the title) than was necessary. It was also an avenue to tug at the heartstrings of viewers. And boy! Did it work!!! In the end though, not everybody loved Jenifa after all!

9. Is the proposal of Shege (played by Falz the Bahd Guy) towards Jenifa a cliffhanger; a clue for a sequel? More like “Everybody Loves Jenifa: The Wedding” Well, you never know!

Conclusion:

Despite its numerous flaws, loopholes or shortcomings, the movie was intriguing, enjoyable, interesting, educational, entertaining and hilarious to watch. Absolutely worth the watch. The actors did great; without which, the movie wouldn’t have been much of a success!

Verdict: 5.8/10

Have you seen this? What did you think?