Hotel Labamba lets you know right off the bat that it is not to be taken too seriously. With character names like Chuba Okadigbo, and Ozumba Mbadiwe, the suspicion that this movie might just be a commentary on the Nigerian elite is already a step in the wrong direction: the names mean absolutely nothing.
By Victory Hayzard Solum
We open on Biodun Stephen’s eponymous Hotel Labamba. Occupants of the hotel have just woken up to the news that a fellow lodger, Sexy Ella, played by Lillian Afegbai (Glamour Girls, The Set Up 2), has died. Her boyfriend, self-professed international businessman and alleged internet fraudster, Big Berry, played by Lateef Adedimeji (Jagun Jagun, Ayinla) is held liable by the broiling mob of hoteliers. But in the bid to not scuttle his boss’s chances of hosting important guests over for the weekend, the manager, Ozumba, played by Okey Jude (Domitilla: The Sequel, Nneka the Pretty Serpent), wishes to keep things silent, away from the blogs, and perhaps away from the police. But this latter sentiment is barely expressed before Detective Ozioma aka Zizi, played by the amazing Bimbo Ademoye (Anikulapo, Big Love), and her assistant, Detective Yaema, played by Jessica Obasi Blessing (Domitilla: The Sequel, Prophetess), arrive on the scene, fast on the scent of uncontrollable news leaks. Cracking cases involving fraudsters has good prospects, and the hotel has been put on lockdown.
Directed by Biodun Stephen (Sista, Breaded Life), and written by Frances Okeke (Helen’s List, What Happened at St James), the comedy-mystery, Hotel Labamba, is Executive Produced by Laide Daramola in a collaboration between Lady Laide Films and Shutter Speed Projects, showcasing the cinematography of Ladipo Abiola (To Freedom, A Simple Lie), with Adio Solanke (Ada Omo Daddy, House of Money) on editing and sound.
Hotel Labamba lets you know right off the bat that it is not to be taken too seriously. With character names like Chuba Okadigbo, and Ozumba Mbadiwe, the suspicion that this movie might just be a commentary on the Nigerian elite is already a step in the wrong direction: the names mean absolutely nothing.
As with much of Nollywood film comedy these days, the bulk of the film’s jokes rely on the characters’ accents, like those of Big Berry and Detective Yaema. This is fine for the occasional chuckles, but it gets tiring eventually, gliding easily towards irritation. But Hotel Labamba also has a lot of whimsiness to back it up. There is a thieving cleaner who overestimates her powers of seduction, and there are tangential elements forever threatening all notions of control.
The mystery aspect of the movie is fairly set up. Big Berry and Ella have been overly loud and obnoxious during their stay, irritating the other spouses on vacation: Pearl, played by Bolaji Ogunmola (Progressive Tailors Club, The Origin: Madam Koi-Koi) and Daniel, played by Kachi Nnochiri (The Supervisor, Crossroads), might have secret reasons for resenting the deceased Ella.
The big spending and suave Mr Halil, played by Atteh Daniel (To Freedom, Dear Affy), has the eyes of every woman at the hotel — including Ella, and Carol, the hopeful receptionist, played by Etinosa Idemudia (Progressive Tailors Club, Devil in Agbada) — and may be unscrupulous about just whom he bestows his attentions on. Everyone else forms part of a well-stimulated chorus, including Chief Chuba Wilberforce Okadigbo, played by Chris Iheuwa (La Femme Anjola, Introducing the Kujus), who only arrives just in time to be trapped along with the other guests by the police.
The investigation proceeds as implausibly as possible; the manager offers Detective Zizi the services of his hotel and a two-day deadline to solve the case. And, like a freelance investigator with no superiors or a station to report to, she accepts, to Detective Yaema’s delight.
There is an attempt to go the route of the Akira Kurosawa 1950 classic, Rashomon. Here, the suspects’ flashback statements are reshot again and again according to new revelations, complete with temperamental and location shifts. But in Hotel Labamba, without a clear-cut statement on the philosophies of truth and perception, this ends up feeling rather frivolous. Unless the filmmakers want us to believe that threats of violence by baton are all that’s required to arrive at the truth from uncooperative witnesses. This exercise undermines whatever conclusions the detectives arrive at. Not that they are particularly any good at chasing leads.
With Sexy Ella being less than a B-list celebrity, the coincidence of having an actual fan of hers, whose social media messages she may have ignored, in the same hotel where she is found dead is never treated with the seriousness it deserves. Why a member of the hotel staff is present at a guest’s party, all dressed up and flashy, when we have not been told that she is off duty, is never addressed. It is almost as if the detectives already have their eyes on their culprit, and so all but cuddle every other suspect.
Hotel Labamba has some weird logic underlying its movements. Beyond police officers who can take self-appointed holidays off official duties, it has surprise characters who can be reached out of the blue on phone lines supposedly stolen months ago, luring them in for a drop of the ever-indispensable plot twists, as well as characters who will reveal damning criminal motivations, when they have neither been pressed nor observed in the act. But what does all that matter?
The film carries on in an energetic manner, with infectious light-heartedness. It works hard for its chuckles and is bound to get more than a few. The cinematography and editing follow through with all the delicious frivolities, ensuring a production that is put-together and cohesive. The comedy comprises simple elements and is carried through by performances that never feel forced. And if you come to love Detectives Zizi and Yaema, the ending seems to tease their return in a possible sequel.
However, when one considers the quality of actors on hand here, and how the experience may have been better elevated with a little bit of focus on constructing a respectable puzzle, however comedic the tone, a la Knives Out and Glass Onion, one cannot help but be frustrated at the missed opportunity, exclaiming one of the film’s favourite lines; Shit, man!
Rating: 2.5/5
(Hotel Labamba is currently streaming on Prime Video)
Victory Hayzard Solum is a freelance writer with an irrepressible passion for the cinematic arts. Here he explores the sights, sounds, and magic of the shadow-making medium and their enrichment of the human experience. A longstanding ghostwriter, he may have authored the last bestselling novel you read.