Multiple award-winning Nigerian film, The Figurine (2010) poses a question to the viewer before the closing credits: “What do you believe?” But the answer to that question is the ideology on which the film rests i.e. Araromire is responsible for the tragic end in Sola (Kunle Afolayan) and Femi’s (Ramsey Nouah) lives. Although the question invites the viewer’s analysis soon after Femi’s confessions, much of what is portrayed in The Figurine casts a glaring dominance of the goddess’ powers. The closing riddle is a camouflage of the film’s real ideology. Featuring brilliant storytelling with the technical elements of filmmaking deployed to a more or less successful degree, The Figurine towers above numerous Nollywood productions. The manipulation of the wooden image and the acting are especially commendable, thus making the viewer quick to overlook the occasional drag, sound and lighting problems in Afolayan’s second directorial attempt.
