Movie Name: My Mother is A Witch
Release Date: May 23, 2025
Language: English
Plot
The mother occupies a sacred place or position in a child’s life, especially in Africa. And now more than ever, when Gen Zs are taking to the internet to condemn the abusive nature of their mother, the mother still holds a special, referential position in African society. In this society, mothers are supposed to be loved by their children unconditionally and regardless of their behaviour. Anything a mother does is for the best of the children. So, to criticize one’s mother is a grave transgression in the African society.
This is essentially the idea behind the film My Mother Is a Witch. The film is directed by Niyi Akinmolayan and stars Mercy Aigbe, Efe Irele, and Timini Egbuson. It concerns a mother’s and child’s strained connection.
Story
At the beginning of the film, Imuetiyan, who is more poshly known as Jessica, is a successful fashion editor who has been living in the UK for twelve years without ever visiting her mother, her only relative. She receives a call informing her that her mother has died and that she must travel to Nigeria to perform the funeral ceremonies. She meets Dr. Ayo (Timini Egbuson), who has been caring for her ailing mother, in Nigeria. However, she quickly learns that it was a deception; her mother is not dead but is dying from a rare form of cancer.
Imuetiyen feels manipulated and threatens to go back to the UK, but she loses her passport. So, she’s stuck and has to bury the hatchet with her terminally ill mother. Through flashback, we are privy to the mother and daughter’s shared past that caused the disintegration of their relationship over the years. Meanwhile, the good Dr Ayo tries to salvage and patch the relationship between his patient, the mother (Mercy Aigbe) and her daughter.
Performance
“My Mother is a Witch” is an encomium for all the sacrifices mothers make. It is a reminder of the value of mothers and the price they are willing to pay to see their children succeed. The length to which mothers will go, even though it could be a bit grey, is always for the good of the child. And the mother in this movie went to the extreme. To write about it will be to spoil the movie.
The mother-daughter relationship between Mercy Aigbe and Efe Irele served as the film’s main driving force. Both of them devoted themselves to their roles. Imuetiyan was motivated by her anger toward her mother, even if the mother felt guilt for past deeds. Both actors gave powerful, emotionally stirring performances that may have left you inconsolable. Both performers, in a sense, gave their best performances, both emotionally and professionally. Efe Irele is renowned for her understated acting style, whereas Mercy Aigbe is noted for her extravagant style. They were therefore, in a way, ideal for these parts.
My mother is a Witch could sometimes feel bereft of authenticity on the subject of motherhood. In a society where the mother is blameless, whose actions are for the child’s greater good, the movies follow the taken path by wanting us to simply accord credence by the virtue of motherhood. But motherhood is much more than that, and the movie stutters for performative motherhood. If maybe the movie accepts that mothers are humans, not gods, it wouldn’t shoot itself in the leg as it did.
But the movie doesn’t stop there in its bid to build the perfect mother. It goes further by intentionally denigrating the men in the movie. Imuetiyan’s father left her and her mother for another woman. The uncle is a sexual predator who wants the mother to help his own niece. But the take-home in this movie, hellbent on depicting the good mother while disparaging the men, is Gabriel (Neo). Gabriel was Imuetiyan’s boyfriend before she left for the UK. He was beaten by Imuetiyan’s mother, even though he genuinely loved her, showering her with love, attention, and gifts. He was a well-to-do dude. But at the end of the movie, Imuetiyan sees him argue with a passenger as a commercial bike rider. This drives home the point that if she had not gone to the UK, she would have married him and would have been living hand to mouth. But thanks to the mother who ended their relationship. Once more, the mother swooped in to save the day. This undue portrayal of Gabriel is what buries the movie as an empty ode to motherhood. The only man spared from this criticism is Dr Ayo, who is cherished by the mother and her neighbours, who always gave him food.
Final Thoughts
My Mother is a Witch has its moments. It is a movie elevated by the central characters. But the movie is without its blight. The movie is mostly frustrated by its performative take on motherhood and denigration of its male characters.
Verdict: 5.5/10
