“Finding Nina” Seeks Closure but Loses Its Way

In recent years, Nollywood has attempted to use cinema not only for entertainment but also for reframing perceptions about overlooked regions and communities.

Finding Nina, directed by Famous Odion Iraoya and released on Prime Video, takes up that ambition for Northern Nigeria, telling the story of a Lagos-based photographer returning home to capture his childhood landscape.

On paper, it is a mix of romance and rediscovery. On screen, however, it rarely finds steady footing. What lingers more than the plot is the suggestion that the title itself is less about a person named Nina and more about a man seeking resolution from the wounds of his past.

The film introduces JB, played by Ibrahim Jammal, as a professional photographer who insists on the need to shift outsider narratives about the North. Encouraged by his gallery-owning friend Raiya (Tomi Ojo), who harbors feelings for him, JB travels back to his hometown after years of avoidance. There, he reconnects with fragments of his youth, including a childhood friend, Nina (Ijapari Ben-Hirki), once captured in one of his earliest portraits. With the help of a spirited almajiri boy, Abdul (Ahmad Isah), JB searches for her, and his journey gradually slips from documenting culture to chasing a memory that refuses to stay in place.

Taken literally, this pursuit feels flimsy. Nina barely exists as a character beyond JB’s recollections, and their supposed “special connection” lacks conviction. She appears and disappears with little explanation, and the film never builds enough of her presence for viewers to believe in the depth of his longing. But read metaphorically, the title begins to make more sense. Nina becomes less of a love interest and more of a symbol for JB’s unresolved history — a figure tied to a time before riots, trauma, and the misunderstandings that fractured his parents’ relationship. His obsession with finding her is really an attempt to reconcile with the pain and misinterpretations of his past, something he must confront before moving forward either in art or in love. This interpretation lends the story more weight, though the film itself does not lean strongly enough into it to make it satisfying.

The struggle lies in the storytelling, which falters under abrupt shifts and unclear motivations. JB’s decisions — from inviting Nina to Lagos, to lashing out at Raiya, to suddenly revealing details about his parents — come without buildup. Scenes that should deepen emotion instead feel like scattered fragments stitched together without rhythm. Even the riot referenced multiple times, which could have been a powerful lens through which to explore trauma and identity, is left vague, its impact hinted at but never fully shown. Without this grounding, the film’s dramatic center feels thin, and its romance unconvincing.

Performance also contributes to the unevenness. Jammal’s JB moves through the story with a detachment that rarely translates into layered interiority. His moments of brooding often flatten into monotony rather than tension. Ojo brings energy to Raiya, but her jealousy and longing feel misplaced, as the film never establishes a strong emotional base for their connection. Ben-Hirki as Nina is left underwritten, appearing more as a projection than a person, which may serve the metaphor but leaves her presence hollow onscreen. Ahmad Isah, however, injects vitality into Abdul, whose charm and resilience briefly lift the story, though even his character fades before making full impact.

Yet, despite its narrative weaknesses, Finding Nina does find moments of beauty in its setting. The film showcases the North’s cultural details with care: the bustling markets, the rhythms of music, the colors of costumes, and the unapologetic use of Hausa language all add texture. The camera lingers on these images as if to insist on their worthiness, offering glimpses of the richness JB claims to want to capture. A sequence featuring Asharuwa dancers in cowrie attire, for example, is among the film’s more visually memorable moments. These details remind us of what the project sought to achieve, even if the story fails to anchor them.

The result is a film caught between ambition and execution. It wants to be a romance but lacks the conviction of one. It wants to reframe the North but doesn’t provide enough narrative clarity to reshape perceptions. It hints at deeper emotional terrain — particularly the metaphor of Nina as JB’s lost innocence and unresolved history — but leaves those threads dangling. In trying to be all these things at once, it risks becoming none of them fully.

Still, there is something to be said about the attempt. Nollywood continues to evolve, and not every effort will land cleanly. Finding Nina at least gestures toward storytelling that aspires to more than surface-level entertainment. It places memory, photography, and reconciliation at the center, even if the execution undermines the potential. Viewers may leave with frustration at its lack of coherence, but also with fleeting images of a region portrayed with color and care.

In the end, Finding Nina never quite answers who Nina is or why she matters so much to JB. But if one accepts her as a metaphor, the film’s title becomes a clue: JB is not simply looking for a childhood friend; he is searching for closure with a past he has misunderstood. That reading may not redeem the film’s flaws, but it gives relevance to what is otherwise a scattered narrative. Perhaps, in its own way, that is the film’s quietest success — reminding us that before one can move forward, one must first reckon with what remains unresolved.

Release Date: August 8, 2025

Runtime: Approximately 2 hours

Streaming Service: Prime Video

Directed by: Famous Odion Iraoya

Cast: Abdulazeem M Ibrahim, Ijapari Ben-Hirki, Tomi Ojo, Vine Ogulu, and Paul Sambo