If your watchlist has been dry lately, this is a good time to pay attention to what Nollywood and African cinema have been putting out. Beyond the loud blockbusters and trending titles online, there are films carrying strong performances, emotional storytelling, and characters that actually stay with you after the screen goes off.

Here are five Nollywood and African films worth watching before May ends.

1. Call Of My Life

Produced by Adesanya Damilola, this romantic drama stars Beverly Osu, Zubby Michael, Patience Ozokwor, Nkem Owoh, and Uzoamaka Power. The film follows Soluchi, a young woman trying to heal from heartbreak after being abandoned by someone she deeply loved. Things begin to shift after an unexpected phone call connects her to a new person who slowly changes her perspective on love and second chances.

What makes the film stand out is how grounded it feels. It does not try too hard to be dramatic. The emotions are simple, relatable, and believable.

2. The Boy Who Gave

Directed and produced by Allison Precious Emmanuel, this film stars Allison Precious Emmanuel himself alongside Blossom Chukwujekwu and Tina Mba. The story centers on Idah, a young man forced to raise his siblings after losing both parents.

This is one of those films that quietly hits hard. It focuses on sacrifice, survival, and family responsibility without turning the story into emotional manipulation. The performances carry the weight of the film, especially in scenes showing the pressure of growing up too quickly.

3. The Fisherman

Directed by Zoey Martinson and produced by Luu Vision Media, the film stars Ricky Adelayitar, Endurance Dedzo, and William Lamptey. The story follows a retired Ghanaian fisherman whose life changes after he finds himself on an unusual journey involving a talking fish and a dream of owning a boat.

As strange as that sounds, the film works because it fully embraces its style. It blends humor, fantasy, and real-life struggles in a way that feels fresh for African cinema. The cultural setting also gives the film a strong identity instead of making it feel generic.

4. The return of Arinzo

Produced by Iyabo Ojo with a powerful line of casts: Funke Akidele, Scarlet Gomez, and Mercy Aigbe. The film is a thriller, and crime. A tale of vengeance. It follows the story of a rising actor who returned home with his fiancée to support his father’s presidential campaign. Their return sparks a brutal, 17-year-old scandal tied to a political figure, forcing buried secrets, betrayal, and the truth behind Arinzo’s death into the open.

5. This Is Not A Nollywood Movie

Directed by Wale Ojo and starring Chidi Mokeme and Bimbo Akintola, this film takes a different route by poking at the industry itself while still telling an entertaining story.

Okechukwu Nwadibe, a washed-up director from Nnewi, dreams he’s won an Oscar and decides it’s a sign. With his ever-loyal friend Pius Godloves You, he heads to Lagos for a chaotic comeback. One bad decision leads to another until a shady loan from a gangster changes everything.

It is self-aware, funny in parts, and surprisingly reflective about fame, filmmaking, and the pressure behind the scenes.

Uche Montana’s ‘Monica’, inspired by true events, has triggered mixed emotions since its release on 7th March, 2026. The sequel came out 3rd May, 2026 and became the record-breaking film to gain 10 million views in two days, and is running on 13 million views now, with strong audience reaction. Having watched the movie, here are eight thoughts.

Monica’s Story Shows the Harsh Reality Many First Daughters Face:

The movie depicts family struggles that many people experience within their homes. The story chronicles the life of some firstborn daughters who sacrifice their lives for the ones they love. Hence, it resonated with a lot of viewers who have experienced this reality. 

Monica is the first daughter and born of her family who had to sacrifice her education and life since childhood, hawking her mother’s Pap and taking charge just so the home could be in order. Her siblings despised her at every slightest chance without second thought and got away with it because no parent could stand up for her. Monica couldn’t even stand up for herself, thereby losing her identity and self-worth. This part is largely portrayed in ‘Monica’ 1. 

Photo – Facebook

Each Character a Different Layer of Family Dysfunction:

Every action, word, and expressions were so intentional so as to send the message the movie had to pass.

Each character carried every stigma that individuals face in life. Some people are Monica, who lose their voice and self-esteem, having to bear the consequences and responsibilities they didn’t choose for themselves but had to accept since it appeared so. They think that if they do not fill in the gap, who will? This has caged several individuals in trauma and unhealed wounds. 

Bobo became a replica of his dad because he wasn’t taught quickly who a man should be by his father. His father wasn’t a good representation of such a figure. Bobo learnt quickly how to be lazy and irresponsible.

Chika, on the other hand, cares less about anyone’s emotions and sacrifices. She became ruthless since her mother always had her back in everything. An honest thought is that she took after her mother. 

Mama Monica taught us how wrong parenting and favouritism can cause harm to children. Leaving us to wonder if she was also operating on unhealed trauma. She is the primary antagonist in the film, shaped by her role as a mother and the choices she makes.

Monica’s Sacrifice Became the Heart of The Story:

Monica didn’t have to take up responsibilities she was forced into. But it turned out so for her. As though it was her purpose to shoulder the consequences of her failed parents. 

She sacrificed her education, life, money, time, and even her lover without a payback. 

Identity can be lost in situations where you have to give your all without someone reminding you to slow down or even cut off to find yourself. 

Mama Monica would always say she was the ‘pepper’ and the ‘salt’ in their home, but Monica was everything. When their father had kidney failure in ‘Monica’ 2 and no one could help with his dialysis, she stepped in without a second thought. In the middle of that, Bobo’s wife, Sharon, had an emergency labour of which she had to pay the hospital bills for her operation. Yet none of this was recognised and remembered by all of them. 

Every sacrifice she made was a hope for approval, recognition, and love, yet that wasn’t in the picture.  

Photo – Facebook

Consequences Eventually Caught Up with Everyone:

This is inevitable, and viewers anticipated it. When Chika double crossed Monica to marry Pascal, she didn’t expect he’ll die so soon from heart disease, leaving her as a widow who eventually loses herself and resolves to drinking. Mama Monica didn’t know she wouldn’t eventually be the one to dance with her daughter at her wedding and enjoy all the benefits that come with that moment. She lost it all.

Mama Monica faced humiliation from her children and ended up sick without having someone care for her like Monica would. Bobo became a baby daddy who couldn’t even fend for his daughter’s feeding nor feed his wife who leaves him for another man. 

Papa Monica’s Failure Fueled the Family’s Collapse:

Papa Monica, simply existed in his home and made everyone suffer for his failure. Unsurprisingly, many view him as passive and ineffective. He was there. Physically present and incapable. A man sitting in a house he had no business calling his kingdom, while his wife made Pap to be sold on the streets by his first daughter, just to keep the family breathing.

He simply proves that once a leader gives up, the followers will lose direction, or worse, turn a tyrant. He lost his voice in the home and became one who only nods to his wife. It’s not always the loud abuse that breaks a home. Sometimes it’s the silence. The man who cannot speak because he has nothing to stand on.

His inability to provide leadership created instability within the household. Someone who calls his children to order, speaks sense into the chaos, and anchors the house when everything shakes.

Papa Monica could not do any of that. And at the end, the weight of all he never did crushed him. The stress, the shame. When the Agbo, Mama Monica quietly administered, kicked in, his body gave out. Kidney failure. By the time he died, he had long become emotionally absent from his family. This character is a mirror. Somewhere, someone’s father is Papa Monica. 

Monica’s Siblings Showed the Damage Within the Home:

In a typical African home, hierarchy comes with respect. This wasn’t the case in this movie. She did not receive love or respect from her siblings regardless of what she had to sacrifice for that. 

This happens when parents fail to hold everything together. From a young age, Bobo and Chika would mock Monica of her lack of education and how she carried herself. She was reduced to nothing in front of them because her mother specifically treated her like an outcast.

Bobo slapping Monica when she stood up for herself to silence Sharon in ‘Monica’ 2 was the major humiliation she received from him. This was after he came to plead for forgiveness, unbeknownst to her, it was a way to lure her back to be used by him.

Photo – Instagram

The Film Exposes the Roles Families Force on Their Children:

This movie mirrors the harmful behaviour of some African parents towards their children. Most times, they force a fate on their children especially if it benefits them. A child can’t become an artist because the parents want him to become a lawyer or doctor to keep the family name or lift the family up.  

Some project their insecurities and failures on their children. Papa and Mama Monica failed at provision allowing Monica to shoulder that. The family feeds, and pays their hospital bills when she provides. 

Her dream was to build her own fashion house but that was about to be robbed by mother until Monica regained her senses and changed her story. 

‘Monica’ Serve as a Reminder for First-born Children:

Most first born have accepted their fate to be the pillar of the home, forgetting they’re also part of the family. This movie is a reminder to first born that you shouldn’t lose yourself trying to pick up others who can’t do something for themselves. 

The trailer for The Creek has just dropped, giving Nollywood fans a new date to mark: March 27, 2026. Directed by Toka McBaror, produced by Nicholas David Adora, and written by Emeka Jepherson, this Niger Delta action drama wastes no time in establishing its high stakes, with the trailer immediately delivering tense, cinematic visuals and a gripping narrative tone.

Photo: Instagram

Set in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta, the story follows men and women where justice is rare and courage comes at a cost. Betrayal, loyalty, and sacrifice shape their lives, while the creeks themselves come alive through sweeping cinematography and tense, intimate shots that make every scene feel charged with danger.

Bucci Franklin stars as Fishbone, connected to both the water and the streets. Sam Dede commands the screen as Selebo, while Sunshine Rosman brings Belema to life, sharing strong on-screen chemistry with Franklin from their To Kill a Monkey days. Haitian-American actor Jimmy Jean-Louis plays John West, Kelechi Udegbe is Shin.

Photo: Instagram

Fans of To Kill a Monkey will recognize Franklin and Rosman, but here they face a very different world the dangerous, unpredictable Niger Delta. The trailer shows intense action, moody lighting, and constant tension, making the story as much about emotion and visuals as it is about plot.

The Creek is set to hit cinemas nationwide on March 27, 2026, promising a thrilling cinematic experience that combines action, emotional intensity, and visual storytelling.