Moses Inwang’s Devil Is A Liar, written by Tunde Babalola, sets out with the promise of drama, suspense, and social commentary, but what it delivers is a clumsy mix of clichés, lazy writing, and wasted talent. At its heart, it tells the story of Adaora (Nse Ikpe-Etim), a successful realtor and CEO of Haven Royal Properties, nearing 40 and desperate to marry and have children before time runs out. In her desperation, she falls for Jaiye (James Gardiner), a fraudster parading as Prince Charming. Jaiye is a stylist whom she meets at Cheta’s introduction ceremony.
On paper, this premise had the potential to explore love, deceit, and the pressures Nigerian women face with age, but what unfolds on screen is a familiar, half-baked Nollywood recipe we’ve seen too many times.
From the first encounter between Adaora and Jaiye, the film kills its suspense. The audience instantly knows Jaiye is the devil in disguise. There is no mystery, no subtlety. We are left not asking “what is his real intention?” but “how long until Adaora discovers what we already know?” The dialogue does not help. Jaiye’s lines sound rehearsed and robotic, and throughout the first half of the film, one begins to wonder if the actors were just reading straight from the script. This is particularly painful because the casting is solid. Nse Ikpe-Etim, Nancy Isime, Mercy Aigbe, and Tina Mba are actors who can light up a screen, but the clumsy writing and poor dialogue waste their presence.
What makes this even more disappointing is that we have seen this exact storyline played out in Nollywood over and over again. Think of Before 40, where the same anxiety about age and marriage drives the plot. Or When Love Happens, which, while lighter in tone, explores similar themes of single women navigating societal expectations. Even Hire A Man and Finding Hubby leaned into the same well-worn trope of women rushing into relationships out of desperation. The difference is that some of these films, while formulaic, at least gave us characters we could care about or comedic moments that lightened the burden of repetition. Devil Is A Liar brings nothing fresh. It simply rehashes familiar themes without adding any depth or originality.
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But to be fair, Devil Is A Liar offers a few scattered lessons worth noting. It reminds women to spot red flags in relationships: if it feels too good to be true, it probably is. It quietly reminds women to choose themselves, not sacrifice their bodies or identities for the illusion of love. This is beautifully captured in Adaora’s decision to consider terminating her pregnancy for Jaiye just to keep her marriage. Also, another subtle message is that financial assets should not be left in one partner’s name. These are real, practical issues, but the film treats them with the same sketchiness that plagues the entire story.
What is worse is the film’s confused relationship with marriage. It tries to make a statement about love, family, and betrayal but collapses under its own contradictions. Jaiye’s sham of a marriage to Adaora is a plot device for fraud, not a serious exploration of the institution. What we are left with is neither a convincing love story nor a thoughtful critique of marriage pressures. Put simply, it means the film cannot even claim to be making a commentary on the institution of marriage, it is simply using marriage as a prop.
Other Nollywood films like The Wedding Party or even Isoken at least attempted to interrogate marriage, love, and family expectations in more layered ways. Devil Is A Liar only scratches the surface.
There are few bright sparks. The opening sequence where Adaora descends the stairs like a bride, only for the camera to transition naturally to her younger sister, is excellent visual storytelling. It quietly conveys the pressures of age, family expectations, and time slipping away. Unfortunately, such brilliance is an exception in an otherwise uninspired film.
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Then come the glaring flaws that make you question whether anyone cared about continuity or editing. There is an intimacy scene so poorly edited it borders on parody—no action, no chemistry, nothing to convince the audience. Adaora’s “stolen TV” vanishes in one shot and magically reappears seconds later. And for a character who supposedly had her womb removed, Adaora’s body bears no surgical scars. Also, the prison fight scene where Adaora bites another inmate is staged so badly it feels like a rehearsal caught on tape. By that point, it is hard not to laugh.
The film starts out evoking Tyler Perry melodrama, but before long, it slips into the shallow pool of Asaba Nollywood clichés. The wasted potential of Nse Ikpe-Etim in the lead role is painful. Erica Nlewedim struggles yet again to convince as an actress, while veterans like Akin Lewis and Tina Mba are reduced to fillers. By the time the credits roll, one cannot help but feel cheated.
In the end, Devil Is A Liar does not live up to its promise. The real devil here is not Jaiye but the careless directing, the lazy writing, and the wasted cast. The movie pretends to be a sharp social commentary, but all it does is lie to the audience.
Devil Is A Liar is streaming on Netflix.
