Nemsia Studios opens the year with an emotional rollercoaster of a film that may hit a little too close to home for anyone who has ever experienced anxiety and just how debilitating it can be. The panic, the blurred vision, the struggle to breathe, the complete shutdown of mental faculties are all signs of that subtle but sure moment of losing touch with reality.
Being a child and dealing with that, coupled with grief and crippling family expectations, is enough to make even the brightest of young minds crack. That is the reality of the titular character, Nowa, in SuperNowa.
Nowa (Darasimi Nadi) is a gifted child who excels in school and is particularly good at English Language. Younger than her classmates in SS2, she clearly has the potential to do great things with her life, but anxiety and grief weigh heavily on her.
They are silent yet ever-present. No one around her seems to notice that her walls are cracking, slowly but surely.
A new teacher, Eki (Onyinye Odokoro), notices Nowa’s brilliance and encourages her to enter a national spelling bee competition. She hesitates because a spelling bee would lead her straight to the root of her grief and anxiety: the loss of her sister Osas, her closest sibling and the one who taught her how to spell.
Eventually, a friend enrolls her into the competition, and with additional pressure from her older brother Junior (Nonzo Bassey), Nowa dives headfirst into preparing for the spelling bee at the expense of her mental health.
However, those pushing her towards the competition all have their own motivations.
Junior wants her to win the fifteen million naira cash prize because, to him, it is a “ticket out of this shithole” and proof that he is not the failure his father believes him to be. Eki, on the other hand, wants to prove to her former elite private school that she can succeed elsewhere without them.
When Nowa suffers a panic attack during the spelling bee, it comes as a shock to everyone around her except herself. When she finally confronts the adults in her life about her mental health struggles and how their unhealthy expectations contributed to her emotional fragility, they are forced to confront an uncomfortable truth.
They may have been going about raising and guiding Nowa the wrong way all along.
SuperNowa is, without doubt, a love letter to every child prodigy who has ever been pushed beyond their limits simply because they were smarter than the average student. The film carefully examines how dangerous it is to deny a child the freedom to simply be a child.
Instead, it shows the damage caused by burdening them with expectations they are not emotionally equipped to handle.
It is refreshing to see Nollywood move beyond its familiar comedies and romance-driven narratives to tackle pressing issues such as child mental health with this level of sincerity.
As for grief, the film never explicitly states how Osas died, but the consequences of that loss are etched into Nowa’s body language. The way she spaces out mid-conversation, suffers night terrors, trembles when singled out by her teachers, and flees in panic when painful memories resurface all speak louder than words.
Watching someone so young carry such an enormous emotional burden while remaining unseen by everyone around her is almost unbearable.
Not her family, not her friends, and not her teachers truly see her. When she finally unravels, blame is shifted in every direction, yet the film makes it clear that they are all culpable.
This serves as a sobering lesson for adults to pay closer attention to the children in their care, especially parents. Nowa’s parents, Osagie (Bimbo Manuel) and Ndali (Carol King), are profoundly neglectful.
The film, however, allows them the grace of acknowledging their role in Nowa’s emotional collapse.
In just 1 hour and 23 minutes, SuperNowa delivers more substance than many Nollywood films with twice its runtime. Every scene is carefully structured into acts built around words and their meanings, each carrying weight and reinforcing the emotional fragility of a young girl teetering on the edge of losing her sense of self.
The film is not weighed down by unnecessary plot twists or sensational moments that leave one questioning the director’s intent.
Every choice feels deliberate, SuperNowa would not be the remarkable film it is without the exceptional performance of Darasimi Nadi. The child actress is undeniably the heart of the film, portraying Nowa with such raw emotional vulnerability that it feels as though she truly lived inside the character.
Every word, movement, and reaction feels intentional,this is an enviable performance to begin the year with and one that will likely stand as a defining moment in her evolving career. Nonzo Bassey and Onyinye Odokoro also deliver award-worthy performances, grounding this heavy yet necessary story with emotional authenticity.
The world needs more films like SuperNowa. Sonia Irabor has crafted a powerful and deeply affecting film, one whose impact will undoubtedly linger for years to come.
It is a story that deserves to be talked about far beyond its release window.
Release Date: January 9, 2026
Runtime: 1 hour, 23 minutes, 6 seconds
Streaming Service: Prime Video
Director: Sonia Irabor
Cast: Darasimi Nadi, Nonzo Bassey, Onyinye Odokoro, Carol King, Bimbo Manuel, Sonia Irabor, Etta Jomaria