Movie Review – Royal Hibiscus Hotel

There was something really beautiful about this movie, although I must say that we have had quite a number of romantic, love movies, where a young girl is pressurized to go get herself a groom and just get married, for fear that she was getting too old. This movie was sweet and different; it had some drama and comedy to it. Topes family were extremely very funny and happy people they added a spice to the movie that made it totally irresistible to smile and laugh all through, their love for each other was envious, one you will wish all couples had. The truth was that despite all the drama and comedy the producer still didn’t lose the core aspect of this movie, which for me is always the most important thing. It was a very lovely, unique and adorable movie, what I enjoyed most about it was that, the message of the movie was well passed across, I was so happy and excited I couldn’t wait to review the movie, although there were ads for this movie but not as much as The Wedding Party, I fell that it should have being hyped more, so that more Nigerians could go see it. My expectations were extremely met.

A fantastic choice I must say was made by the producer Temidayo Abudu and the director Ishaya Bako for choosing Zainab Balogun and Kenneth Okolie as the lead actors for this movie. They absolutely looked perfect together like they were meant for each other and just couldn’t resist themselves. I must say that their choices were really awesome seeing Jidekosoko and Rachael Oniga as well as Joke Silva and Olu Jacobs reminded me of the good old days. There was a perfect blends between each and role given, making the entire story old to behold. The location chosen and the color blends behind each scene was totally beautiful making the movie absolutely amazing. The movie was shot in Lagos and London and although there weren’t so many scenes, it was done in a way that you wouldn’t have noticed. Did I mention the cinematography and songs selected at every scene was awesome, it was one you would connect with, sing and want to even dance to. They left no stones untouched and they made sure all “t’s” were well dotted. I totally enjoyed every bit of it.

Royal Hibiscus hotel had the usual story line of a young girl under pressure to get married, although they didn’t tell us her age and kept it a mystery, we kind of guessed that she was in her late twenties “20”, but she didn’t look it as she looked absolutely amazing in hair style and dressing. She was sweet and extremely loveable, but she still remained single. The movie was a romantic/ comedy movie about a wealthy couple Segun and Rose Adeniyi, who owned a beautiful, boutique hotel somewhere in Lagos, but was struggling to stay afloat considering the high cost of running it. In desperation to still salvage something out of the situation Segun decides to sell the hotel, which was meant to be the legacy to their only daughter Ope, even without telling his wife. On the other hand Ope their only child was also considering relocating back to Nigeria to take over the hotel and transform it to a world class hotel. She was a seasoned and well trained chef and wanted to bring home all her knowledge to the family business, little did she know that her parents had another plan altogether.

The movie was transcended to another dimension when Ope found out that all her dreams were about to be scattered. It was quiet disturbing for her, because she had fallen in love with a young, handsome and wealthy man she had bumped into at the airport and met again in her family hotel. She was happy and excited believing that luck had shone on her this time, when she found out that he was the supposed buyer of the hotel.

Cast: Zainab Balogun, OC Ukeje, Kenneth Okoli, jide Kosoko, Deyemi Okonlawson

Director: Jadesola Osiberu

Script writer: Jadesola Osiberu

Casting 1hr 40mins

Genre : Dramm

Ratings :12A

To my verdict I would say Royal Hibicus deserves a 9/10, It was a really cool movie with a beautiful storyline, they didn’t have so many cast, but the few they had were of the best quality, there was also a perfect blend with each character and I kind of felt that Ope and her new found love looked perfect together. The colors, clothes, hair and wall colors, all had a perfect blend, it looked so beautiful, the drama and comedy were awesome. I would say I loved the photography, cinematography and the locations chosen, they all looked perfect.  So for me this is a 100% recommendation to go see this movie. So for those who want to have a cool and relaxing weekend then this is absolutely the movie to see.

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Linda Ochugbua

@lindaochugbua