“Osamede” Revives Benin’s Lost Glory in a Bold, Mystical Epic

History records it coldly: when relations with the British Empire soured, the once-proud Benin Kingdom was attacked and sacked in 1897. Its Oba was exiled, its treasures looted, and its sovereignty folded into the Southern Protectorate.

 

It’s a tragic ending retold countless times, familiar to every Bini native and, indeed, every Nigerian.

 

But for newbie producer Lillian Olubi, it doesn’t have to always end in despair. Enter “Osamede,” a live-action adaptation of her stage play, a supernatural fantasy set in a reimagined post-invasion Benin where magic and myth collide with history.

 

The titular heroine’s origin unfolds in the most fateful of ways. As the invasion is underway, rogue general Iyase (William Benson) storms the sacred shrine to forcefully obtain and wield the Arousa stone, a magical object of immense power. He hopes to kill two birds with one stone: the invaders and the Oba himself — whose liberal rule he believes encouraged the former’s behavior.

 

But the heavily pregnant high priestess, Adaze (Tosin Adeyemi), will have none of it. Unwilling to surrender the power of a civilization to a vengeance-filled heart, she flees with the stone. Iyase, his loyal enforcer, the ever-zealous Edokpolor (Osagie Elegbe), and his guards are hot on her heels.

 

The pursuit ends unfavorably for her, and when the dust clears, it’s her corpse on the dirt road, her newborn in a trusted blacksmith’s arms, and Benin’s glory drowned in flames and blood.

 

Eighteen years later — judging from a “1915” notice on the Oxford Mining Schedule billboard — Benin has become a shadow of itself. The once-mighty kingdom now groans under quasi-enslavement. Its citizens toil endlessly in British-run mines under harsh, exploitative conditions, watched over by the stern Major Roger Wild (Alexander Bud) and his equally cold assistant, played by Austrian native Adrean Fritzer.

 

Culture desecrated and spirits broken, there’s reasonably doom and gloom over the air in Benin…except in the heart of a certain blacksmith’s 18-year-old daughter: Osamede (Ivie Okujaye).

 

She is the archetypal heroine: fearless where men falter, defiant long before she learns she might have power to match her will. Osamede “takes Panadol for other people’s headaches,” (as Nigerians would say) her compassion for others’ suffering, often testing the patience of her father (Paul Obazele) and her best friend, Dizola (Etinosa Idemudia).

 

“I’m going to reassure them, she insists after yet another act of civil disobedience. “Who appointed you as their hero?” Her dad retorts. It’s a fair question from a weary parent whose daughter can’t stop drawing the ire of baton-wielding guards for stirring the seeds of rebellion

 

Osamede’s stubborn streak earns her more than a few lashes and perhaps a broken back or two, yet it also wins her unexpected admirers. Chief among them is Nosa (Lexan Aisosa Peters), the Oba’s representative and a former captain of the royal guards. Her defiance intrigues him. To others, like Iyase, it’s a source of cynical amusement.

 

Nosa’s relevance in this film, especially when things start getting adventurous, is grounded not in love interest, but companionship, admiration and faith for “the chosen one.”

 

Alongside Benson’s Iyase, he delivers some of the film’s best action sequences when trouble comes a-kicking; he’s British-trained after all. Yet even his combat prowess pales once Osamede awakens her long-dormant powers and puts the Scarlet-Witch-slash-undefined magic to good use.

At this point, Osamede evolves from historical drama into something bolder: a superhero film wrapped in the robes of an epic. And like any good epic, it sports elaborate costumes and handcrafted props and sets (from set designer  Nwaohiri Uchechukwu) to display ambition.

 

Its colors are more vivid than the genre’s usual muted palette, and its sets less-expansive than its big-budget Nollywood cousins. Yet for an indie film and Olubi’s first foray into filmmaking—one she famously quit her career to pursue—Osamede more than holds its own.

 

Tight budgets notwithstanding, the cinematography (via Charles Eleghe) and visual effects teams were certainly good at their crafts. So innovative was director James Omokwe that he personally crafted an AI-generated short and imputed as the film’s flashback scene. Noticeable, but brilliant nonetheless. In his words at the premiere, “Al is a tool, and it’s here to stay. As long as it doesn’t replace the human essence of filmmaking, it can be a powerful creative ally.”

 

Casting, too, is one of Osamede’s triumphs, anyone who loved Benson in To Kill A Monkey, would absolutely worship him in Osamede. Giant-ing above his foes, he’s more villainy than most Hollywood counterparts though this does little to deter Okujaye as she gives him a performance reminder that this is her story, not his.

 

A couple of take-homes for the valiant filmmaker Omokwe, though. One can’t help but wish the one chance the film had at a good swordfight between Iyase and Major Wild wasn’t stifled. Also, for a story that borders on the supernatural and the superiority of Benin mysticism over Western firearms, the film curiously withholds the proof at certain points. Why not show some of this ancient magic resisting at the initial invasion to prove that Benin’s spiritual force doesn’t choose when to work?

 

Then there’s Osamede, her hot head being too…hot. It’s okay to be reckless; it’s not uncommon for 18 year-olds. But there’s a definable line between justifiable reckless and plain foolhardiness, which is what Osamede tackling the enemy head-on without powers or a back-up plan sounds like.

 

It’s almost like writer Lolo Eremie wanted to telegraph her destiny too early; another phrase for that “awful predictability”

 

Don’t let these ills distract from Osamede’s messaging: that it is a restitution of Benin heritage, a bite back on colonialism and tribal infighting. It’s pretty enjoyable too.

 

You’ll laugh at the interpreter’s comic timing, smirk at the unspoken chemistry between Osamede and Nosa, and frown at the sheer audacity of a general who betrays his own kin.

 

Osamede stands as an ode to Benin mythology much like Jagun Jagun and Anikulapo celebrate Yoruba lore. For the first time, Nigerian and international audiences are treated to a cinematic epic told entirely in the Bini language, something rarely attempted by Yoruba-language epics.

 

And, as a charming footnote, thanks to this film, Nigerians are finally discovering what “Laho” means in Shallipopi’s hit track, Laho.

 

Release Date: October 17, 2025

Runtime: Approximately one hour and  forty five minutes

Streaming Service: None —  Cinematic Release

Directed by: James Omokwe

Cast: Ivie Okujaye, William Benson, Lexan Aisosa Peters, Tosin Adeyemi, Lancelot Imasuen, Etinosa Idemudia,Paul Obazele, Osagie Elegbe, Alex Bud.