Dear Mummy B

I once went to on a date to a bookstore  and when my date asked the proprietress of the store for the price of a book, she decided instead to give both I and her a lecture about attitudes instead. See she was a (not so dear) Mummy B. One of the most remarkable things about Nigerian culture is the unique belief that random strangers are entitled to have and give their opinions on your life to you. In others words, in Nigeria everyone is a relationship therapist, especially on social media. In fact there is perhaps not a single Nigerian alive who has not gotten unsolicited relationship advice from family and friends.

The delightfully funny, Tope Oshin directed, Dear Mummy B, produced by Mary Njoku and Remi Ibinola is about a single mother and restaurant owner whose relationship advice to her daughter’s friend goes viral on the internet bringing her wealth and fame but threatens the relationship between mother and daughter (the irony of this movie is that for a woman who got famous by giving relationship advice for a living, she could have used some advice on her relationship with her daughter).

The infectious charm of this movie is that everyone (including myself) has/knows and loves their own dear Mummy B. She is the loving, brash, kind but sometimes rude, nosy, ultra-dependable, confident, compassionate, firm, bible quoting, pidgin-speaking yet pidgin-banning, wisdom-dispensing, powerful woman who above all things just wants better for the people she loves.

This brings me to Ada Ameh (Mummy B). There are not enough superlative adjectives to describe her flawless epic performance but I will try to explain why it is undoubtedly the best, most effortless performance I have seen all year. The performance wasn’t striking just because of how relatable and so utterly convincing it was, but because it was both heart-breaking and uplifting while being hilarious and serious all at the same time. The entire movie hinges on her performance so much so it feels like a disservice to talk about anyone else. That is how remarkable it was and I have a hunch that because of how natural the performance felt that she wasn’t just working from a script. She made me a believer (my personal motto is now What Would Mummy B Do) that Mummy B is the feminist icon young girls need. In contrast, the performances by Ijeoma Grace Agu (Betty) and Uche Aninye (Chidi) are complimentary and competent but less convincing however Samuel Perry (Jelili) with his limited screen time gives a hilarious performance.

For me, the movie’s biggest flaw is that I couldn’t shake the feeling that there wasn’t really a story to tell. It felt like a stretched out pilot episode of a really funny TV show and perhaps the concept might have been better served on the small screen. Maybe this is because the movie has an interesting but limited premise; a mother with financial problems accidentally stumbles into making viral videos. Where does the story then go? She dates a man and her daughter doesn’t approve, The End. Also as the movie progressed, despite its great direction, it couldn’t resist some common Nollywood tropes (the shopping montage, the celebration montage etc), ignores some pressing issues (the relationship between Betty and Chiddy), takes some baffling twists and it does slightly lose some of its charm as the story progressed.

Ultimately, the most disappointing element for me when it ended was that after I dragged my eyes away from the screen, I sunk into a deep depression when I realized that the Dear Mummy B videos aren’t real. So I am issuing a plea to the producers, the world needs (and more importantly, I need) more Mummy B. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and you will too and while you might be laughing with her or laughing at her, you will definitely laugh.