Lizard

CinemaSerf6/10

Feb 8, 2024

View on TMDb

"Juwon" (Pamilerin Ayodeji) has a sort of danger-radar that annoys her pastor, so he ejects her from her Sunday school at her local Lagos church. Ordered onto her knees outside, she espies and then finds herself following a lizard that was crawling along the ground and out into the streets. Encountering a familiar policeman, she is told to go back inside - that it isn't safe. She's a charmer, though, and manages to get him to go buy her some food - he can "keep the change"! Her wanderings take her to the city's massive "Mega Church" where she and her aunt (Rita Edward) both become victims of the real violence of the city that shocks them both. Ayodeki is quite engaging as the innocent eight year old, and the story has a potent message about the indiscriminate nature of the lawlessness that exists in this massive city. There are two contrasting societal scenarios presented here, one of a more Christian nature; the other of a more a venal one - and though that works well enough, I felt this to be a rather disjointed effort that wasn't telling me everything. Perhaps there was a complicity between the church and the criminals? Perhaps not? It's a big story to cram into twenty minutes and maybe it needs a longer, better developed version?