‘The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives’ Review: A Twisty Nigerian Melodrama That Could Use More Mischief

Filmmaker Daniel Oriahi crafts a spirited tale that refuses to trust its own welcome excesses.

By Murtada Elfadl

Murtada Elfadl

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One of three Nigerian films playing at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, “The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives” immediately throws the audience into the central dilemma of its plotty narrative. In the first scene, post copulation, Baga Segi (Odunlade Adekola) demands that his fourth and youngest wife Bolanle (Omowunmi Dada) see someone about being infertile: It’s been a couple of years since their marriage and they remain childless. From here on, filmmaker Daniel Oriahi uses voiceover and flashbacks to reveal how Bolanle arrived at this moment.

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