Soólè

T'was perfect for me

Loveeeee itttt

فيلم جيد!

As this film opens Sister Veronica, a Catholic nun, is preparing to catch the titular 'Soólè', or 'cheap bus' from Lagos to Enugu, where she works at an orphanage. As she haggles for a cheaper ticket another woman is arranging to have a case transported on the same bus, claiming somebody will collect it at the other end. As the journey gets underway we are introduced to various other passengers. These include a priest who is keen to get more money; the vivacious Justina, who the priest is sure is a sinner; and a variety of other characters; not all of whom are quite what they appear to be. After a few minor incidents the bus is held up by a group of armed robbers; they appear to be after a particular bag but take the wrong one. Events lead to the passengers realising this and checking the 'right' bag... its contents lead to arguments about what to do and a realisation that the danger is far from over. This was my introduction to 'Nollywood' films so I really had no idea what to expect. Early scenes suggested a character driven drama without too much real action but as things progressed it became clear that later on there would be a fair amount of action. This was fairly exciting even if not as intense or slick as one might expect from a modern Hollywood film and certainly nothing like the action films coming out of the Far East. This wasn't a problem though as it was fun to watch and provided some surprises. There was a good amount of comedy material; this was amusing without feeling forced; I particularly liked the bus driver and the armed robbers' reaction when they opened the 'wrong' bag. The cast was pretty solid; especially those playing the key characters. On Netflix it is listed as being in English; while much of what is said is in easy to understand English a fair amount is in subtitled Yoruba. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to those who like action/comedies. On the strength of this I hope to check out more Nigerian films.

The story being so relatable to many African who ever traveled by bus and specifically in Nigeria,this deserve an applause. Few things were left not in perfect condition as some VFX not well performed but the line following the story was catchy to an African viewer which is the most important part of success of a movie. The fact that the story didn't rely on simple witchcraft but tried going extra mixing witchcraft with modern actions was good. The blend also of peace in many religions,social life was so good. My favorite was also how the writer used a lot of references in the story,where I thought someone was dead but something they did in past saved them again ,killing also some stereotypes in African community made me realize Africa and Nigeria specifically is having writers who know how to adapt story structure to Sub-Saharan African community. Though other visual mistakes are so visible at first sight as inconsistent drone shots,unmatched colors in shots,or some B rolls not bearing enough information or some actors over doing and more worse some Visual effect not realistic, for a country as Nigeria i have to say this is a good go especially because of the story. It's time we focus more on better stories, good thing is that it's not an inspired by real life event which is usually the savior of weak writers. The idea of creating your own story and still catching viewers is so fantastic and that's my reason to congratulate this team.

Soole was much anticipated due to the hysterical trailer and characters on the bus, but the weak production and graphic details sadly discouraged us from completely enjoying this movie Delicious -The different characters on this bus really enriched the narrative; they all had their own mischievous, mysterious, and loud personalities -Pastor Oko (Ikponmwosa Gold) was our man 😁 He was so money-oriented and didn't hesitate to contradict himself with the Word of God. And that prayer!!! Justina (Meg Otanwa) also stole the show for us. Anyone watching Soole will remember her -Definitely what we got from Soole was 'don't judge a book by its cover' Bland -The production was very regrettable because it could have taken Soole to different dimensions. The uncontrolled lighting during the daytime scenes was highly noticeable, the cinematographer didn't guide the camera with purpose, and sound engineering was poor -The comedy aspect appeared quite forced and overdone by the actors. There were a lot of tantrums during the bus ride that kept on lagging and lagging with no hilarious lines -The level of perversion demonstrated in the film was very uncalled for. Pure comedy can be achieved without being sexual.

It's 2022 and Nollywood lovers expect better production. The humour is forced, poor sound effects, visual effects is unrealistic for the shooting scenes not to mention the poor script used. More could have been done. You rarely see situations where luxurious bus are used for 'soole ' in Nigeria, considering the cost for moving such vehicle. Not to make mention of sending over a million dollars via a vehicle which cannot be traced in case things go south. Then, there's the northerner who pulls a bow and arrow out of nowhere... C'mon that's poor scripting. The actors did play their role well, but the casting was poor.

I don't get why people are rating this so low and why people are saying its unrealistic.... Duh!! It's a dark comedy. Nice to see a Nollywood movie that's somewhat different and genuinely has some funny characters and hilarious dialogue. Nollywood isn't on the level of Hollywood so I don't expect that quality in production. I like that the producers /director weren't trying to be westernised but instead gave nods to some of the old school Nollywood themes - armed robbers, occultism, fake pastors, loud raucous arguments and people getting killed. Hahaha. Guilty pleasures! I was wondering where the film was going and the last segment seemed a bit off beat from the first three quarters of the film.

فيلم جيد!

source: Soólè