‘The Royal Hibiscus Hotel’ Deserved Better – A Review

The Royal Hibiscus Hotel is a 2017 Nigerian romantic comedy film directed by Ishaya Bako. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. It recently made its debut on Netflix and trended for a little while.

Having never seen the movie, I decided to check it out on Netflix. Let’s get into the review.

The plot

The Royal Hibiscus Hotel follows Ope, a young chef who returns home from London, eager to transform her family’s hotel. But unbeknownst to her, the hotel is on its last legs and her father is considering selling it to two young businessmen; one of whom sparks a week-long romance with Ope.

The cast

The movie stars Zainab Balogun as Ope, with Kenneth Okolie as Deji, her love interest. Jide Kosoko and Rachael Oniga play her parents and Lala Akindoju and Ini Dima-Okojie provide comedic relief. It also stars Deyemi Okanlawon as Deji’s business partner.

Review

On the first watch, here are some observations I made about The Royal Hibiscus Hotel.

Colonialism and culture

There are a lot of socio-cultural themes embedded in this movie. First, we see the toxic work environment that immigrants, especially black people, have to deal with in the UK. The British signature subtle racism pops up insidiously time and again in this movie without taking centre-stage.

It is unclear whether or not this was intentional, but it was worthy of note; also quite ironic when juxtaposed with Ope’s parents’ blatant love for all things British; especially Queen Elizabeth II.

Looking at The Royal Hibiscus Hotel itself, it is obvious that it exists in another era; one that is yet to be disillusioned from the grandeur of Britishness. I found this element so interesting that I think it would have made for a better story than Ope and Deji’s romance. Or better yet, it should have gotten more attention.

Ope would have carried back the disappointing experiences from her time in the UK and come back with a decolonised mind and a revolutionary sense of Nigerianness. But unfortunately, till the end of the movie, The Royal Hibiscus Hotel remains a token of the time when Britishness was as aspirational as it was oppressive.

In summary, the hotel as an entity had no character arc and did not go through the transition that would have made this movie wholesome.

In addition to the identity of the hotel, it would have been great to get a sense of how entwined it was with Ope’s father’s life. If the hotel truly meant that much to him and was his legacy, it would have been great to see it, not hear it.

Ishaya Bako would have done well to include a montage of a young Segun Adeniyi buying the hotel from the British with all his savings and fixing it up by hand; maybe even one of Ope as a toddler running around the hotel in its glory days.

Instead, it took the easy way out, focusing on an impassionate romance that does nothing but inspire an “awww” once in a while. A more captivating approach would have been focusing on Chief Adeniyi’s dilemma of either drowning in debt or preserving this much-talked-about legacy.

Then, Deji’s acquisition of the hotel for Ope would have offered the much-needed release for Chief Adeniyi as well as ushering in a new era while preserving his precious legacy. Ope Adeniyi’s new administration could have been that pronounced assurance that Nigerian can be exquisite.

This story could have been so much more with a lot more emphasis on the legacy and familial bond. But it’s not. It’s just a rom-com with a backstory that was too good for it; like a pig with a pearl necklace.

Comedy

Of course, we could not go 20 minutes in a Nollywood movie without some slapstick. The chef’s idiocy was annoying and not even remotely funny. Then, he kept throwing in casual misogyny and there were no consequences for that disrespect, sending the message that that sort of speech is not only okay, but funny.

Joyce, the singer, played by Ini Dima-Okojie, was an unnecessary character who deserved no screen time whatsoever. The script was not economical at all; she contributed nothing to the plot and was not even interesting enough to be a side-show.

The only funny parts of this rom-com were Mrs Adeniyi’s diets and how she switched gears at the mention of ₦350 million. Mrs Adeniyi was funny without being silly, and personally, that is all I ask of a movie that is not primarily a comedy.

The dramatic irony of her planning owambe when her husband was juggling two tough choices was not lost on the audience. Another hilarious point was her wanting Ope to get married while still being disconnected from the fact that her daughter was no longer a little girl who liked stuffed toys; the beautiful dichotomy of motherhood.

Her relationship with her husband is also heartwarmingly funny; as she seeks more excitement and romance and teases him all the time.

Lala Akindoju’s shameless flirtations and colour-coded hair was a more welcome comedic relief also. Plus, she was not a useless character and she helped provide some very useful exposition.

Rough around the edges

Let’s face it, this movie was not neatly sewn together. So much was happening at the same time that the transitions between the scenes and themes were not smooth. It seemed like a cumulation of a lot of unfinished thoughts.

A good example is the Felix part. There was no reason for him to be there and if he wasn’t in the story, everything would have gone on just fine. His irrelevance was further emphasised by Ope’s abrupt rejection of him and his disappearance thereafter.

The filmmakers could have even drawn the audience more into Ope and Deji’s romance by making them cook TOGETHER. That would have been a great bonding experience and a chance to establish chemistry and intimacy.

Another sore point for me was the music in this movie. The devil works hard but Nonso Amadi’s manager must work a lot harder; because his songs pop up repeatedly all over the movie. It felt like they just played a total of four songs in rotation throughout the movie.

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And in Nonso Amadi’s Ocean, the intro should have been cut out or a selected part of the song should have been played. But as with all the songs, they play from the beginning every time. This begs to question who exactly was in charge of the music and why.

To add to that, like many other Nollywood movies, the white actors in The Royal Hibiscus Hotel were terrible; with the exception of Alain the restauranteur. Usually, when Nollywood casts white actors, it appears they picked them off the streets and just thrust them on set. Nigerian audiences deserve better actors, even if they’re white.

Summary of the matter is this: this movie deserved better. It looked like it was suffering from an identity crisis and did not know what exactly to be. So it just picked the most digestible.

Check it out for yourself on Netflix. And if you have already seen it, what did you notice about the movie? Share your thought in the comment section below.