“My Mother is a Witch” Breaks the Silence on Generational Hurt

There’s a kind of love that never says its name. It hides behind sharp words, harsh decisions, and long silences. That’s the kind of love at the heart of “My Mother is a Witch”, the new family drama directed by Niyi Akinmolayan.

Set in Benin and blending English, Edo, and Pidgin, the film tells a painful, familiar story about a daughter who returns home and finally confronts the wounds she’s carried for years—wounds her mother refuses to nurse.

Imuetiyan (Efe Irele) is a fashion editor in London. She’s stylish, self-contained, and determined to stay far away from her past. But when she’s tricked into returning to Nigeria with the lie that her mother has died, she finds herself forced back into a house she’s spent years running from. What follows is not just a homecoming—it’s an unraveling. Of memory. Of anger. Of misunderstood love.

The film tells its story through a mix of flashbacks and present-day tension. We see a younger Imuetiyan trying to make sense of a mother who’s both fiercely protective and emotionally distant. Mercy Aigbe, who plays the mother, gives one of her strongest performances yet. She swings between comic and cruel, at one moment chasing boys and goats with a pestle, at another hurling harsh words without blinking. It’s hard to tell if she’s doing more harm than good. And that’s exactly the point.

The film explores parenting in a way that will hit home for many Nigerians. It doesn’t glorify or excuse bad behavior, but it shows how often love is buried under trauma, poverty, fear, and shame. The title itself—“My Mother is a Witch” is something Imuetiyan believes for most of her life. And honestly, you might believe it too for a while. But as the story digs deeper, it becomes clear that what she’s really seeing is a woman who’s never had the space to explain herself.

Efe Irele holds the film together with quiet strength. Her performance isn’t showy, but it carries weight. She plays Imuetiyan as someone who’s learned to keep her emotions locked away, only for them to bubble to the surface in small, powerful moments. Her scenes with Aigbe are the film’s most standout moments. They fight like mother and daughter, where every argument is coming from a place of pain.

There’s a sequence where Imuetiyan finally opens up to a doctor (played by Timini Egbuson), explaining what really happened in her childhood. It’s a classic expository scene—character explaining their backstory to another character—but it still works. Mostly because the emotions feel real, even if the structure is familiar. That said, this part of the film could have used more visual storytelling. It tells, rather than shows. And while it gets the job done, it misses an opportunity to be more immersive.

Still, the film shines in its cultural grounding. The use of the Edo language is particularly striking. We don’t often get full stories in Edo on the big screen. But here, it’s not just used for color—it’s essential to the setting and the characters. It brings a sense of place and history to the story, rooting it in something real and lived-in.

Akinmolayan’s direction keeps things emotionally focused. The cinematography isn’t flashy, but it’s thoughtful. There are moments; mirrors, doorways, long silences where the visuals do a lot of quiet work. The score is also worth mentioning. It doesn’t try to tell you how to feel; it lets the story breathe. It leans into sadness without overwhelming it.

One of the film’s quiet strengths is how it avoids turning the mother into a villain or a saint. She’s just a woman who’s done what she thought was best—even if it hurt her child. And the film doesn’t ask you to forgive her easily. It just asks you to understand.

Interestingly, this is Efe Irele’s first major lead in a film of this scale—and she also serves as executive producer. It’s a bold move, and one that pays off. The story clearly means something to her, and that personal investment comes through in the performance and tone.

You can feel the influence of other Nollywood dramas about family trauma, but this film carves its own space. It’s more about emotional truths than big plot twists. And while it doesn’t reinvent the genre, it brings a level of honesty and care that makes it resonate.

At its core, “My Mother is a Witch” is about how love and pain often exist in the same breath. How what we inherit from our parents isn’t always what we understand. And how silence especially in Nigerian families can be the deepest wound of all.

“My Mother is a Witch” doesn’t offer neat endings or big answers. But it offers truth. And sometimes, that’s enough.

Release Date: May 23,2025

Runtime: Approximately 2 hours

Streaming Service: None, Cinemas

Director: Niyi Akinmolayan

Cast: Efe Irele, Timini Egbuson, Mercy Aigbe and Neo Akpofure.