October 1 (2014) User Reviews

Good but Kinda Cheesy

[steven98664 · 7/10 · 18 June 2016]

I liked this murder mystery from Nigeria.

The film cinematography almost felt like a filmed play at times.....but that is just my observation.

The plot was thick and readable part way in but far enough in to keep my interest.

I really liked the setting, the clothing, and the characterizations. The best obviously, is the old inspector.

This gave me a feel for what I hear is an up and coming Nigerian film scene.

The mixture of culture and language was very interesting. Some English, mostly subtitles. Some British influence, mostly Nigerian.

Cheesier parts like the murder scenes and investigation of murder scenes at really real locations sparked my interest.....I guess. On the whole, the nature of these just added to my interest in the film.

Fine story. Smooth pacing. But...

[LordofArt · 5/10 · 6 August 2018]

October 1, kudos to Babalola the script writer, had all elements of a detective story woven around when Nigeria jostled for her independence from the British crown who had subjugated her for years, exploiting her resources to build her commonwealth.

Back to October 1: there was a perfect crime (s), wrongly accused suspects, a believable and intelligent detective and good red herrings that smelled so good the best detective from the future would be derailed.

BUT...

The culprit's motive for murdering his victim's were far fetched. Chrissakes, what was he (the writer) thinking?

A child, with others, was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest, he matures into an adult, has a good life (?) and he returns to his native land to start kiling young women... A plausible thing would have been that he takes out his revenge on Roman Catholic priests, or even luring innocent men into his trap and kills them. Not women. But it's the script writer's story, he decides everything in the creation of his.

Howbeit, October 1 was okay.

Interesting movie

[nasimzhosein-695-794748 · 6/10 · 1 January 2022]

Set in Nigeria its about a detective looking for a killer. But it's easy to figure out the killer right at the beginning. Some ok acting but the English was difficult to understand with some of them. Usual who done it type of show. Not sure though if the story is real or just made up. Worth watching if nothing else is on.

Historic, Thrilling, Educative and Awesome

[Thugs_cry · 8/10 · 24 March 2015]

Nigerian movies are renowned for poor story lines, bad acting, many errors, etc. But this one actually proves that the Nigerian movies industry can deliver great movies to the global audience.

I thought I would sleep while watching or pause it at the quarter to watch the rest later. But the movie actually gripped me. October 1, paints a whole lot about Nigeria in the 1960s.

The storyline was superb. Didn't know that Nigeria could actually have a serial killer story that can be compared with major Hollywood blockbusters but Kunle Afolayan did it.

A must see, if you like thrillers and diversity.

Charming but incompetent

[akskype · 3/10 · 6 April 2020]

If this movie is meant to be truly reflective of policing in Nigeria - then that is a worry as all police officers in the film were, whilst loveable, extremely incompetent.

Much of the movies focus is on ceremonial pomp with very little credible detective work or focus. The plot twists were also as mundane and predictable and were only bested by the poor quality of dialogue.

If you are going to have an english movie - make sure all of the characters can speak english please. Otherwise keep it in its original dialect and simply have subtitles.

My favourite character was also the most incompetent - Sergeant Afonja. A very likeable buffoon - I am never sure if that is what the director is going for or if its by complete accident.

In any case - i doubt he could solve a robbery even if the burglar handed themselves in.

Watch it but only for the beautiful countryside and nice people starring in it.

Lovely glimpse of a ground-breaking time

[olliemankz · 9/10 · 26 June 2015]

When I was a kid in the early 60's, I'd come down to the breakfast table and find my stepfather reading about the Congo. For a little while, it was all over the news. I don't know if the Congo occupied the news in other metropolitan areas the way it did in Detroit. It really meant something there, probably because of Detroit's large black population.

I remember as I glimpsed the blaring headlines and asked my stepfather what it all meant words like "independence." There was the name Patrice Lumumba and the seeming inevitability that he would be killed for his cause. The movie October 1 is set in Nigeria and does not mention Lumumba or necessarily take sides -- it is assumed everyone's for independence except possibly for the grudgingly accepting British empire forces who are still running things while planning to begin handing over power to a new Nigerian government, on Oct. 1, 1960. But the countrymen's anticipation of this ground-breaking transition is a still slightly uncertain backdrop to a detective trying to solve a string of murders and find his footing among his rulers.

I started the movie expecting it to be interestingly amateurish as have been some movies I have seen from that part of the world ... peeks into a lifestyle that no matter how nascent are little different from anyone else's. Made in Africa by Africans, the movie seemed to have grass-roots production values but then I realized that was only because they reflected the milieu. In Nigeria in 1960 people still lived very close to the land. There would be a lot of foliage and open-air buildings to be seen. I loved the fabrics out of which women made cottony dresses featuring large emblematic portraits of their leaders.

But as the movie progressed, I realized it did not suffer in production values at all; in fact, it was superior in some ways to anything I have seen coming out of the West lately. Perhaps the filmmakers did need to be creative for lack of a budget but I liked the way sometimes something, a sound, for instance, would get a special treatment, almost as if we could see the shock waves extending out on the screen. It has been a couple of months since I saw the movie and I have been wishing to write this review all that time so, please forgive me, I don't remember exactly the events being so depicted, they might have been a sound, or an emotion, or both. But I found the effects simple but evocative,

I'm not going to go into the plot other than to say that some of its turns are surprising and adult and may not be suitable for children. But I think you'll like our detective, a man of dignity and sense and who is quite thin. Whoa. He is quite appealing. Winterbottom is dashing, too -- keep an eye out for Nick Rhys. But in Inspector Danny Waziri, Sadiq Daba nails the role of a lifetime. I have to add that I think Tunde Babalola's script was brilliant, understanding so well both sides of the transitiion and knowing when to crescendo. Even though the gaining of independence is not explained like a history lesson, it is an interesting snapshot of how the countrymen responded and an intriguing context for the movie's events and the detective's courage. October 1 is a great little movie. P.S. Maybe director Kunle Afolayan would like to make one of his future projects a biography of Lumumba, if it wouldn't be too controversial. From surveying a Wikipedia entry about Lumumba, he seems to have fit my cursory childhood take on him as a tragic leader.

Khan Review

[zkzuber · 1/10 · 7 March 2022]

Very good comedy. The lead actor action scenes were terrific. A must watch. Netflix done a good job of uploading s u ch a master piece. Hope Hollywood makes a remake of the same.

A must watch for younger Nigerians and general lovers of a good film.

[olawal-894-637523 · 10/10 · 26 December 2016]

After having this in My List on Netflix for probably a year, I finally decided to watch it, being a skeptic of all films made in Nigerian. I hate Nollywood and their repetitive nonsense films about love, in laws and general foolishness about money. And don't get me started with the bad camera work and sound/sound effects. Enter October 1st, the films is simply everything I wanted plus more. A good detective film, a love story without too much emphasis on the love, a country's last journey through independence from the white man and the very good play on the stereotype of the different tribes that makes up the Fedral Republic of Nigeria. I spent the first 10 years of my life there and still have and love the vivid memory's however often forget, lest I am reminded by films like this. Culture, language, food, palm wine and of course the British. The film was well acted, very well directed, you knew who the perpetrator is from the get go, but due to everything that made up the rest of the film, I didn't care that it took a while to get to him. It also had plenty of Yoruba spoken in it which is my first language, so this is one I will be recommending to all my fellow Nigerians. I will be looking out for more work by Kunle Afolayan. Well done!!!

good movie

[morayoayoade · 8/10 · 2 November 2015]

October 1 makes an attempt at telling Nigeria's story before her independence while inculcating another suspense filled story that captures the viewers' attention till the very end. This thriller is set in the colonial times and was well executed by the use of great costuming, antique props such as cars used in that era and household items like television sets and all sorts. Apart from exploring the theme independence, it also sheds light on topics including homosexuality, tribalism and illiteracy. The casting is the best I have seen so far in "Nollywood". It is an amalgamation of old and new faces with well-developed skill-set. It features veterans like Sadiq Daba and Kayode Aderupoko who are well known prolific actors in Nigeria. The scripting 'of the movie could have been better as it affected the dialogue, the use of flashback technique is not well executed as one could not really tell what was going on without putting much thought into it. A lot of thought was put into production as the picture is top quality and the post production is detailed, the music used also helps to depict the time frame portrayed in this movie. I don't want to give out any spoilers but i would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who is interested in having surface knowledge about Nigeria before its independence

Carries a rare sense of pensive cognizance and further provokes reflection on the part of its target audience.

[deladogla · 8/10 · 6 October 2015]

Kunle Afolayan's October 1 serves us poignant paradox of how far we have come but, tellingly, how rooted we are to the murky leech infested waters of colonialism of whence. Afolayan's film uses a latter-day colonial setting as a canvas for a mystery of violence that engulfs a small town in the month preceding the end of British occupation.

The script by Tunde Babalola is a tremendous novelty as much as it is an indictment. This is the most poignant and only Pan-African film I've seen make rounds. It is gushing with the detail and art design of whence from the quaint highlife tunes to 60s apparel and the chilling totems of British occupation. We find haughty British officials, the sharp contrast of the Union Jack flying over the green environs and indigenes along with the prominent standing of the Queen some thousand miles away from Buckingham. Never has the seemingly innocuous portrait of Queen Elizabeth conveyed such weight filmed with overbearing intimidation. A chunk of the setting bears eerily similarity to contemporary society. On the one hand we recognize the ostensive timelessness of how culture is projected by song, dance, beliefs etc. On the other hand we recognise a culture of education that remains steadfast to the neglect and dysfunction of pre-independence. The only thing that has changed is the national anthem.

There is a middle ground, an ambivalence, found in the people we encounter with regards to points of communication, religion and identity. The film is well aware of this ambivalence and the fact of it being the only real change brought on by colonial occupation and subsequent liberation to mostly negative consequences. The central setting of Akote typifies this in that it is a trading post and the meeting points of culture, ethnicity, religion etc. I say mostly negative but we are treated to scenes in a bar owned by an albino serving men and women, northerners and southerners, Igbo and Yoruba. This diversity goes to serve as a conduit of tension as the film unravels fuelling a sense of cynicism brought on by one of the film's characters in response to Nigeria's independence. Afolayan isn't as subtle as he could be in this regard getting a little too preachy but a chilling sense of poignancy lingers. Hindsight is crystal – almost a crystal ball taking into consideration the pathology left behind by the bane of Western occupation.

I have rambled on about Afolayan's world building but there is a thread here: Police inspector Danladi Waziri (Sadiq Daba) is dispatched to Akote in Western Nigeria to investigate a couple of murders by his British superior (Nick Rhys). Independence is a month away and the British would rather no major cases remain on file when the baton is passed. Virgin ladies are being raped, strangled and left with peculiar markings which leads to suspicions of a serial killer in this small rural community. More bodies drop confirming this assessment. The film is well plotted like a conventional whodunit. Waziri arrives in Akote, asks a lot of questions and does some investigating with the local Sergeant Sunday Afonja (Kayode Aderupoko) at his side. The camera gets to look suspiciously at people and throw some red herrings our way but the film shows its hand towards the final act and positions itself as an exploration of the rot at the crux of the murders.

The detail may have suggested an overly serious tone but affairs here almost mirror the jolly simplicity of life on the country side. I was reminded of Fargo. There are no cool looking inspectors trying crack the case. Waziri doesn't carry an intellectual swagger with a smoking pipe in hand. He sports the standard baggy uniform (with shorts) over his old skinny frail body and rides around on a "buzanga Volvo". Much like the heavily pregnant Marge Gunderson in Fargo, don't let the surface get in the way. Waziri knows his police work. He comes to Akote with a reputation of closing a high profile murder involving a British man, of course – I did say high profile. Daba plays Waziri well managing to project some authority through this seemingly unassuming persona. A look into Waziri's eyes and we can tell he's been around the block. We can also sense some weariness and guilt. Perhaps Afolyan uses him to project a spirit of neo-colonialism.

Waziri doesn't speak the native tongue hear relies on interpretation from Afonja – almost like a British man. He is all about due process willing to overstep sacred instructions and culture of this society in the name of the law. There is subtle but disquieting naiveté at work in his character. The most excruciating moment sees him impose authority on a restless mob in the name of the Queen with Nigeria all but independent. More depth can be found in the character of Prince Aderopo played by the smooth Demola Adedoyin (who probably leads this film under a lesser director). He is always clad in white as the film plays out. His initial scenes have him returning as Akote's first ever graduate of the full western education system. Later on he dances to (what sounded like) western music playing on his gramophone. The excitement of Independence beckons but Aderopo looks to more time in the West pursuing a Master's degree and he doesn't have nice things to say about Nigeria's future as a sovereign state.

Whilst October 1 is gushing with rich detail it is not without its flaws. The film starts to lag in the final act as the testing running time becomes apparent. Redundant flashbacks and exposition feature and a little more confidence in the audience would not have been remiss. There is still a tremendous amount to behold – character depth, nuance and subtext oozing out of the script, stellar cinematic DP work and Afolayan's strong vision.

Understated, powerful crime drama with historical flavor

[floatingpolarbear · 9/10 · 6 September 2015]

This was a very character rich film. Not a single scene was wasted. You feel taken by the hand invisibly by the storyteller and shown things that seem unimportant perhaps or out of context at the time, yet slowly but surely build towards powerful scenes and an inescapable conclusion. You don't have to know any Nigerian history to get a sense of the buzz in the air about the country's independence which was being launched at the time this provincial crime investigation takes place. It's also worth noting that the investigation does not rely on common tropes such as what a genius the investigator but rather on an organic navigation through unfamiliar territory and peculiar characters interacting in a fluid, at times comical at times dangerous framework.

A Modern Nigerian Classic⚡

[rothleland · 10/10 · 11 February 2022]

I am not Nigerian this lifetime, but I felt empowered by this INCREDIBLE 'Tour de force' eruption, if u will, of the nefarious exposure of British colonialism, pedophile plagued Roman Catholic Church, insane various tribal prejudices exposed galore & a truly decent Muslim Nigerian from the north detective tasked to quickly make sense of several horrible rapes & murders of tribal virgins in a southern small town - that began 6 weeks before October 1st, 1960 - the day of Nigeria's independence from the British.

Nollywood truly has a political/religious/tribal gem here for those who seek to broaden their perceptions of the whys of the major ills of the world & in this case a small community in Nigeria - r so pervasive today.

Soul comes to this physical reality for experiences & this film delivers a ton of them❤

Perfection

[theodoramawutor · 10/10 · 7 August 2021]

This is a must watch movie!. I can't even say more. I'm short of words.

With drama and efficiency... Pefect and very sad...

[RosanaBotafogo · 9/10 · 20 August 2021]

Against the background, the independence of Nigeria, including using this remarkable date in the title, and only because it is an excellent police thriller, in search of a serial killer who kills and violently kills virgins in a distant tribe of Nigeria, in a beautiful Nigerian production, full of colors, very exciting to observe the African tribal culture, through the clothing, food, behavior (including the machismo of patriarchy, in which girls have to marry virgins and have difficulties to study), and with drama and efficiency...

this movie should be featured in the hall of fame!

[ngandacinema · 10/10 · 12 October 2023]

We're standing in awe at this marvelous production and never-before-seen screenplay!

October 1 is a force to reckon with in Nollywood. Such a rich in-depth thriller; when you think you got it figured out, there goes a twist. It was a blend of obscurity, fear, and torment taking place in Akote village. Literally, everyone was a suspect😃

The movie was so impressive as it zoomed in on delicate subject matters in the most sophisticated manner. The production design was simply phenomenal, we experienced the events with the characters in 1960.

To think that Ademola Adedoyin was making his acting debut! He was myyyyyysterious, the silent look could be interpreted in so many ways that we couldn't figure him out.

Nothing to say about Kayode Olaiya, Kehinde Bankole, or Sadiq Daba. Yinka Edward produced amazing images with controlled lighting, very much appreciated, sir!

If there was ever an African Cinema Hall of Fame, October 1 should be included there!

Excellent

[jhconway-95793 · 9/10 · 30 April 2023]

Having worked in Nigeria many years ago, not too long after the period depicted in this film, think this film is excellent. It took me back in time to a familiar place. The characters are so credible, drawing on tribal animosity and its influence on society in ways I witnessed way back when. Nigeria is a wonderful country filled with wonderful people, many of whom have their own customs and beliefs that don't resemble western ways. This film touches on that with sensitivity; the film is itself a sensitive portrayal of village life. I feel I met many of these characters, albeit after independence, but they were proudly owning any mistakes. I didn't meet one guy, though, who comes to the fore late on in the film. No spoilers. Just watch it.

Screenplay Okay, But the Title is Misleading

[foxxireal · 2 September 2020]

I picked particular interest in the movie because I was expecting a movie that would have something to do with Nigeria's independence or an happening that one can relate with. But the movie has nothing to do with October 1, nothing to do with independence, just a story about a serial murder that happened just before independence. Well, the movie could have been called July 2 or December 25 and it would make absolutely no difference. Or it could have been called A Royal Murder or Murder in Vengeance or whatsever, and it will still be just fine.

I was disappointed I didn't see what I expected to see, I wanted to see a movie about Nigeria's independence, what I saw was a movie about murder investigation.