31. To Bungle an Epic

Jerry Chiemeke on Kunle Afolayan's “ANIKULAPO: RISE OF THE SCEPTRE”

When the charming Saro dies the second time, he saunters into the portal of the afterlife, where the Onibode (gatekeeper) awaits him. Saro learns of the huge debt incurred in his second lifetime, raising the dead with a magic gourd. The Onibode denies him entry and sends him back to earth to reclaim those souls.

Saro sets to task, undoing three resurrections. However, he encounters a blind old woman he previously resurrected, with whom he strikes a deal that allows him to regain his physical form. Saro’s third sojourn in the land of the living unfolds in Faustian fashion as he abandons his mission and takes to a new trade, ignoring the complaints and company of the undead.

Directed by Nigerian filmmaker Kunle Afolayan, Anikulapo: Rise of the Spectre is the sequel to the epic drama Anikulapo (2022). As with Kemi Adetiba’s crime thriller King Of Boys: Return of the King, it receives the film-to-miniseries treatment from Netflix.

Kunle Remi, Bimbo Ademoye, Sola Sobowale, Ronke Oshodi, and T…