Citation is a drama movie directed by Kunle Afolayan, written by Tunde Babalola and starring Jimmy Jean-Louis, Temi Otedola and Bukunmi Oluwashina.
Netflix is actively bringing a lot of international movies this year and hence the audience is exposed to culture from all over the world. Citation is a Nigerian movie that not only exposes us to different people and their culture, but also particularly the rape culture which is universal in nature.
Citation is a serious film about the difficulties faced by girls when they have to stand up against someone who is highly respected in society. It also proves the long-standing debate as to why women don’t come forward as soon as they are assaulted. The main reason is the doubt that is placed on the survivor and the way they have to fight and constantly talk about their pain with no guarantee of justice to be served.
This Nigerian film will give you a different feel in terms of direction. All the scenes are so slow and dragged that at times it feels like you are actually there with the characters, living that life, but at other times it also feels monotonous which results in boredom to creep in.
It would’ve been better as a limited series rather than a big 2-hour-13-minutes movie that feels like the story is based purely on the context to the main sequence which is not more than 15-20 minutes. Also, you will have to constantly look at subtitles because most of the time the characters hold conversations in French.
Citation‘s characters look real and only a few of them have acted really well, which includes the protagonist and antagonist of the movie. The music and editing feel a little old school. The background score will remind you of the drama serials that used to come a decade ago and the editing seems too easy.
The story in itself can be summarized in 10 minutes but the whole film revolves around the on-and-off non-consensual relationship that goes on between a student and a teacher. It also brings forward an important message of how you can never judge people based on their education and achievements. A high IQ does not guarantee high morals.
Living in a country like India, the movie seems quite relatable, especially when they talk about respecting people or when the protagonist is told by her boyfriend to not meet the antagonist, instead of supporting her emotionally and showing maturity instead of jealousy.
Overall: Citation
The movie is about rape culture but it mostly talks about world politics and that makes it very interesting. The reason why you should see the movie because it includes some powerful dialogues that make you think and read more about geopolitics. Overall, it is a one-time watch and if you ignore the old school technicalities, it is a movie with substance.
Citation is currently streaming on Netflix.
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