Over the past four years, Funke Akindele has established herself as Nollywood’s most bankable filmmaker, delivering a remarkable run of box office successes from ‘Battle on Buka Street’ (2022) and ‘A Tribe Called Judah’ (2023) to ‘Everybody Loves Jenifer’ (2024).
With Behind the Scenes, her latest directorial effort, Akindele once again blends commercial appeal with socially resonant storytelling, while interrogating a familiar but deeply unsettling Nigerian reality: the cost of unchecked generosity within family structures.
Released on 12 December 2025, Behind the Scenes, the film reportedly has garnered over N1billion at the box office, making it the highest-grossing Nollywood title of 2025 so far.
Plot
At the heart of Behind the Scenes is Aderonke “Ronke” Faniran (played by Scarlet Gomez), a successful real estate entrepreneur whose wealth becomes both her power and her burden. Ronke is the family’s financial backbone, selfless to a fault and conditioned to prioritise everyone else’s needs above her own. From funding her siblings’ education to single-handedly supporting her father and nieces, her life is defined by sacrifice.
Ronke’s sister, Adetutu (Funke Akindele), embodies entitlement, being loud, manipulative, and unrepentantly dependent, while her brother, Adewale (Tobi Bakre), represents a sensitive but equally exploitative strain of familial dependence. Years earlier, Ronke deferred her own education so Adetutu could attend school, only for her sister to abandon that opportunity to get pregnant and have twins, leaving Ronke to shoulder the consequences.
As Ronke’s generosity extends beyond family to friends, employees, and even strangers, the cracks begin to show. One of the film’s most exaggerated but telling moments sees her paying five months’ worth of outstanding salaries for workers in a friend’s failing company, reinforcing just how deeply she has normalised self-sacrifice. Eventually, personal tragedy forces Ronke to confront the emotional and financial toll of her choices, triggering a long-overdue reckoning.
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Cast Performance
Funke Akindele delivers one of her most refreshing performances in recent years as Adetutu, deliberately shedding the exaggerated eccentricities of her Jenifa persona. Her portrayal of the selfish, manipulative sister is energetic and effective, providing comic relief while also serving as a sharp critique of ingrained entitlement.
Scarlet Gomez anchors the film with a restrained, empathetic performance as Ronke, lending humanity to a character that could easily have slipped into saintly caricature. She captures the quiet exhaustion of a woman who is conditioned to give endlessly, even at a high personal cost.
Tobi Bakre brings swagger and intensity to Adewale, striking a balance between charm and opportunism. At the same time, a strong supporting cast, including Destiny Etiko, Iyabo Ojo, Ibrahim Chatta, Uzor Arukwe, Ini Dima-Okojie, and Victoria Adeleye, adds intrigue to the ensemble. Destiny Etiko’s role as a housemaid leans heavily on her emotions.
Review
While the narrative moves unpredictably from comedy to drama, the emotional pivot mirrors the lived experiences of many Nigerian households, where success often comes with unrelenting obligations and silent resentment.
Technically, ‘Behind the Scenes’ is polished and has an aesthetic appeal. The cinematography is glossy, with upscale interiors and Lagos cityscapes framing the story; however, heavy makeup in intimate scenes and conspicuous product placements occasionally break the immersion. Directionally, the film prioritises familiarity over experimentation, relying on templated shots and on-the-nose dialogue.
Narratively, the film’s greatest strength is its relatability, yet it is also its limitation. While the themes of family exploitation, financial pressure, and emotional burnout resonate deeply, character arcs are often rushed, and moral resolutions arrive too neatly. The messaging, though sincere, sometimes veers into oversimplification, favouring crowd-pleasing sentiment over nuanced exploration.
The script has its own intrigue that accredits and validates the movie’s title, and gives the audience a sense of satisfaction. We sometimes have to recognise the creativity of the scriptwriters, their imaginative prowess in crafting such a well-woven storyline.
READ ALSO: How I made my first N1 million at 22 – Funke Akindele
Still, Behind the Scenes succeeds where it matters most for its core audience. It is emotionally engaging, culturally grounded, and unapologetically commercial. Akindele once again proves she understands the pulse of the Nigerian cinema-going public, delivering a film that entertains while prompting reflection.
Behind the Scenes may not evoke anything new or groundbreaking, but it elicits good emotions. Flawed yet fiercely engaging, it is an emotional crowd-pleaser that might not linger long after the credits roll.
Verdict
6/10
‘Behind The Scenes’ is screening in nationwide cinemas.
