Human trafficking remains a persistent issue across Africa, despite growing awareness and technological advances. While many films have sought to depict the problem, 3 Cold Dishes takes a more immersive approach, centering the experiences of victims rather than the criminals.
Set in Benin, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire, the film follows three women; Esosa (Osas Ighodaro), Fatouma (Fat Toure), and Giselle (Maud Guerard), trafficked as teenagers by people they trusted. Esosa was exploited by her uncle, Fatouma deceived by a coach, and Giselle sold by her grandmother. United by shared trauma, they form a bond during captivity that sustains them through separation and loss.
A raid on the trafficking house, run by a man known as Eagle, separates the trio, but a decade later they reunite with a singular purpose: to exact calculated revenge against those who exploited them. In doing so, the film highlights not only the brutality of human trafficking but also the resilience and agency of its survivors.
The reunion finds them all evolved into survivors with daring skills. They are no longer scared teenagers viewers saw at the beginning enduring the torture of their sex exploitation. Giselle is quiet and the wild card with a mystic touch. Fatouma is stern and cunning, her fearlessness makes her a tough cookie. Esosa is more hardened and tactical, thanks to her military training. Determined to seek revenge, they cross African security-tight borders, from Lagos to Abidjan and Cotonou, on a personal vendetta journey. Each target symbolises their trauma, and with each act, the line between justice and destruction blurs.
3 Cold Dishes shines with emotional appeal leaning into the trauma of human trafficking survivors. This sets it out to be palpable. With the depth of 3 Cold Dishes’ storytelling approach, Oluseyi Asurf, the film’s director, reiterated his knack for moving human stories in Nollywood. Asurf’s style in the film unfolds in layered flashbacks that exposes how the human trafficking web is built, and how it continues to thrive under a corrupt and silent world. While the film sits comfortably as an action thriller, it finds creative ways to maintain its emotional depth.
Using riveting wide-angle shots, Asurf captured a cinematically pleasing view of African countries where the film is set. The chase scenes in the desert tops the chart in this regard, it was beautiful to watch. Asurf also took the narration route with Amelie Mbaya who plays Mama Janice. Her immersive tone, her believable lines and her interesting character elevated the film as she narrates the story of the three powerful women to a journalist played by Femi Jacobs.
Osas Ighodaro, Fat Toure, and Maud Guerard who portray older Esosa, Giselle and Fatouma deliver memorable performances like Mbaya. With truth, intention, depth and vulnerability, they carry the heart of the film. Toure’s character is more memorable for her daring traits even in the face of death. It is right to say she low-key pioneered the revenge for other women to join.
One undeniable beauty about 3 Cold Dishes is how it doesn’t shy away from the truth about human trafficking in Africa. It doesn’t mince words but portrays exactly what it is. It is usually perpetrated by close relatives compared to strangers. Beyond human trafficking, 3 Cold Dishes is about memory, revenge, recovery, and the cost of finding healing in a world that often punishes victims.
“I wish they had intercepted my truck 17 years ago” is one of the most emotional dialogue hits hard. One that poses the “what if” question. Esosa during a conversation with Fatouma and Giselle disclosed how the police intercepted a truck filled with innocent girls being trafficked. That interception saved their lives. What if Esosa, Giselle and Fatouma’s trucks were intercepted? Would they have turned out differently?
It is not to say that 3 Cold Dishes is without flaws but the story was powerful enough to distract viewers from noticing them. For instance, the shooting scene in the desert seemed unbelievable. All that shooting and the car still looked clean enough with barely bullet holes. Few scenes captured lengthy dialogues that throw viewers off intermittently. Whether it was an attempt to make the ending a cliff hanger, it is unclear what happened to the women after their mission. Did they survive or simply disappear into thin air?
No doubt, the immersive story pulls you in from its opening scene to its tense climax, where the women must choose between completing their revenge mission or breaking the cycle of violence. In a genre-defying ending, the film invites the audience to ponder: what does victory truly mean for those who are broken?
3 Cold Dishes is brutal, emotional, and crucial as EbonyLife Studios and Netflix’s collaborative project Oloture in spotlighting the menace of human trafficking. With its pan African approach that blends raw storytelling with urgent social commentary, 3 Cold Dishes presents itself as a groundbreaking film. It is a story of women who were silenced, but now refuse to hide their trauma.
Release Date: November 7, 2025
Runtime: 2 hours plus.
Streaming Platform: None, Cinemas release
Director(s): Oluseyi Asurf
Cast: Osas Ighodaro, Fat Toure, and Maud Guerard, Taiwo Adeyemi, Ruby Akubueze, Mentor Ba, Adebodje Wayidi Adeleke, Femi Jacobs, Wale Ojo, Ibrahim Traore, Brutus Richard, Tomiwa Kukoyi, and Bambadjan Bamba.