Kemi Adetiba, dir. To Kill a Monkey. 2025. 8 episodes. Average of 60 minutes per episode. Nigeria. English, Nigerian, Pidgin English. No Price Reported. Streaming on Netflix.
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Kemi Adetiba, dir.To Kill a Monkey.2025.8 episodes.Average of 60 minutes per episode.Nigeria.English, Nigerian, Pidgin English.No Price Reported.Streaming on Netflix.The short series To Kill a Monkey, directed by Kemi Adetiba, came highly anticipated and did not disappoint upon release.One of the first of its kind, the show tackles the hot topic of cyberfraud head-on, complete with the conspicuous consumption and glamor that often accompany the crime.Yet it does not sugarcoat the deep anxieties or risks engendered by illicit accumulation, nor does it sidestep their consequences.From the outset and via the eight episodes of the series, the viewer is compelled to walk in the shoes of the main characters and feel the weight of the moral decisions they face.Through this immersive lens, the storyline engages Nollywood thematic staples such as rags-to-riches, loss, urban precarity, the oppression of the poor, and police corruption.At the same time, it wades into less familiar terrain, including the technologies of electronic fraud and trauma-induced psychosocial distress.These intricacies are embodied by a compelling assemblage of longtime screen favorites like Stella Damascus, Bimbo Akintola, Ireti Doyle, and Chidi Mokeme, alongside lesser-known but refreshing faces such as William Benson, Bucci Franklin, and Sunshine Rosman.What makes To Kill a Monkey unique is its unashamed (and at times, humorous) commitment to messiness.Early in the series, the narrative undertakes the tedious but necessary work of situating the viewer within the conditions of suffering and precarity that render scamming a conceivable-indeed, rationallivelihood pathway.It follows the life of Efemini Edewor simply called Efe (played by William Benson), a young-to-middle-aged man hustling in Lagos, whose existence is defined by diminishing options.His rent is overdue; he needs money to bury his recently deceased mother; he is drowning in debt which swallows his meager earnings as a waiter; and he struggles to feed his family.As if these troubles were not enough, his wife becomes pregnant with triplets, though the loss of one of the babies brings him an unsettling sense of relief.His predicament is crystallized in his manager's biting remark, "God does not like you," uttered after advising him to seek spiritual help (Episode 1, 00:10:45).Efe's story resonates on two levels.First, it dramatizes the lived realities of many universityeducated youths navigating chronic unemployment and underemployment in African urban centers while attempting to acquire or utilize in-demand skillsdigital technologies, in Efe's case-as a means of survival or a vehicle of hope.Second, it renders visible the poverty trap as a compounding quicksand that it is,
Source: African Studies Review
Author: Chikezirim Nwoke
Institution: Brown University
Language: English
Topic: Cinema History and Criticism
Subfield: Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7154586777
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