“The Fire and The Moth” is a Fatal Dance Around Desire

“The Fire and the Moth” must surely be an odd title for a film involving the smuggling of a rare seven-centuries-old West African antique—an Ife Bronze head. That’s a valid conclusion before, and even halfway through, the roughly 100-minute run of this Taiwo Egunjobi feature.

As the credits roll and the bodies pile up, however, the title makes more sense: just as the moth is drawn to flame—faulted by its instinct to follow starlight for navigation—the characters in “The Fire and the Moth” are attracted to a valuable artefact. For many, it’s not just greed but harsh economic realities that drive their pursuit. Yet, as with the moth’s fatal dance with fire, their attraction leads almost inevitably to ruin.

In this story, the bronze head becomes both literal and symbolic fire. For Saba (Tayo Faniran), the smuggler at the heart of the narrative, it represents a last-ditch hope to fund his father’s surgery. For his unexpected accomplice Abike (Ini Dima-Okojie), it’s greener pastures clad in bronze. For the crooked officer Opa Stephens (Olarotimi Fakunle), it’s a pathway to lasting wealth. And for Francois, the French collector who commissions its theft, it’s just another prized trophy for his imperialist ego.

But everywhere the head goes, it leaves a trail of blood, starting with the very thieves who hijack it from the Ibadan Museum. The prologue, “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it shall yield no flour; if it were to yield, strangers would devour it”—a biblical verse from Hosea 8:7—is prophetic of the fate of nearly every character entangled with the stolen Ife Bronze head.

The characters “sow the wind” by chasing after the artefact—each driven by self-interest: survival, greed, escape, wealth, or prestige—but all face the whirlwind: death, betrayal, or moral corruption. Even when they momentarily possess the artefact, it yields no real reward… “no flour.” And if there is any value to it, it’s likely “devoured by strangers” (like Francois, the foreign collector).

There are also undertones of colonial rule. The Brits’ administrative method of choice was indirect rule—tasking the traditional rulers with the dirty work at the grassroots. That’s precisely what Francois tries to achieve with Jimmy Jean-Louis’ character in this film. A contract killer, the latter is the nemesis of all those who dare to mess with the sacred symbol of destiny and fate itself in the ancient Yoruba kingdom of Ife. It’s not for no reason that most of the fatalities by bullet were shot in the head.

With regard to “The Fire and the Moth’s” characters, there’s a lot of “Whys?” and very few answers. Faniran’s monotonous expression is one. It’s unnatural for someone to be grumpy and frowning all through—in times of danger, surprise, pain, regret, and exhaustion. His quid pro quo relationship with Dima-Okojie’s Abike is another very questionable dynamic. That someone immediately cares for and blindly follows a bleeding stranger who, only moments ago, was threatening them with a gun, defies all known human psychology—even factoring in Stockholm syndrome. So why does Abike?

Jean-Louis’ character does more killing and less hostage-taking and strategic planning—something every assassin is expected to do. Backstory is non-existent. And while no one would expect a whole lot of that for all the characters, having none at all makes this feel like a film simply of people running and getting killed. Worse, it does little to justify the very slow pacing.

Regardless, “The Fire and the Moth” is three leaps forward for Egunjobi’s career—a filmmaker with only “In Ibadan” (2020), “All Na Vibes” (2021), and “A Green Fever” (2023) under his belt. Nothing is too out of character for Egunjobi in this film, especially as writer Isaac Ayodeji lends his pen to the former’s project for the fourth time.

Minimalism is the order of the day in “The Fire and the Moth.” Dialogue is restricted, as are any signs of modernism; the vehicles and cell phones make this film look early 2000s-ish. Unlike the bustling, exotic locales typically associated with this genre, “The Fire and the Moth” unfolds in a small Western Nigerian town reeking of silence and remoteness that allows this kind of hide-seek-run game to thrive.

In the past five years, there have been three successful attempts at smuggling Nigeria’s ancient treasures. Not many viewers know this; a change in this attitude is hopefully brewing—no matter how slight—post-“The Fire and the Moth.” After witnessing the toll that the smuggling industry takes on its victims, there’s a natural demand for a sequel, since not all deserving characters meet their nemesis, and the head doesn’t catch a break.

Release Date: June 3, 2025

Runtime: 1 hour and 40 minutes

Streaming Service: Prime Video

Director: Taiwo Egunjobi

Cast: Tayo Faniran, Ini Dima-Okojie, Olarotimi Fakunle, Jimmy Jean-Louis, William Benson, Keppy Ekpeyong, and Amanda Ugoh