Overview
- Following Saturday's Directors' Fortnight premiere in Cannes, the film drew a lengthy standing ovation at the Théâtre Croisette.
- NEON acquired world rights before the festival and will handle the U.S. release, adding momentum for a broader rollout after the film's debut.
- Arie and Chuko Esiri relocate Virginia Woolf's story to Lagos, using a split timeline and 35mm cinematography to explore memory, desire, and class.
- Critics singled out Sophie Okonedo's lead turn, with India Amarteifio portraying her younger self, noting precise editing by Blair McClendon and evocative imagery from cinematographer Jonathan Bloom.
- The adaptation reframes Woolf's traumatized veteran as a man scarred by fighting Boko Haram and probes post-colonial legacies, a focus that reviewers said gives the film fresh urgency and international resonance.