Kehinde Bankole
Lola Coker
Overview
Mike is invited by his childhood friend and buddy, Adetunde, to have dinner and spend the weekend with him and his fiancée Lola as they plan for their upcoming wedding. Mikey decides to come along with his girlfriend Diane, as he plans to propose to her. Things get out of hand when they arrive at Adetunde's house and they get to find out secrets about each other's relationship and the one person in the middle of it all.
Cast
Reviews
4 min readThe Dinner That Never Ends
I’ve seen this trick before. Two couples sit down for a meal, the wine flows, the conversation turns brittle, and by dessert, someone’s crying—or bleeding. It’s a reliable formula, the cinematic equivalent of a pressure cooker with the valve sealed shut. Dinner (2016), directed by Jay Franklyn Jituboh, leans hard into this setup, but what’s striking isn’t the secrets that spill across the table.
It’s how little the film seems to trust its own premise.
The story is simple enough: Mike (Okey Uzoeshi) and his girlfriend Diane (Ini Dima-Okojie) drive to the home of his childhood friend Adetunde (Richard Mofe-Damijo) and his fiancée Lola (Kehinde Bankole) for a weekend of wedding planning and, ostensibly, camaraderie. But the moment they arrive, the air thickens. There’s a tension here that doesn’t belong to the script so much as to the space itself—a living room that feels like a stage set for an argument that hasn’t happened yet.
The camera lingers on hands gripping wine glasses too tightly, on smiles that don’t reach eyes, on the way Diane’s laughter sounds just a beat too late, like she’s reading from a script she didn’t get to rehearse.
What’s missing is the why. Not the plot’s why—the film is happy to drip-feed revelations about past infidelities, hidden pregnancies, and financial betrayals—but the emotional why. Why should we care that these people are unraveling in front of us?
The answer, frustratingly, is that we’re not given much reason to. The characters are vessels for secrets, not people. Adetunde, played by Mofe-Damijo with a quiet intensity, comes closest to feeling like a real person, his calm demeanor masking something darker.
Audience Opinions
Audience 6.5/10
"A light-hearted Nigerian comedy with relatable romance and family drama, but predictable plotting."
The film delivers laughs and heartfelt moments through its lead performances and everyday family scenarios, making it an enjoyable watch for fans of Nigerian comedy. latestnetflix.com's view is that however, the story follows familiar tropes, and some viewers felt the pacing dragged in the second half, diluting the impact of its stronger moments.
What viewers praise
- Engaging lead performances Kehinde Bankole and Richard Mofe-Damijo bring charm and depth to their roles, making the romantic and family dynamics feel authentic.
- Relatable family themes The film’s focus on love, betrayal, and forgiveness resonates with audiences who enjoy light drama grounded in everyday experiences.
- Good comedic timing Several scenes deliver genuine laughs, particularly those involving the ensemble cast’s chemistry.
Common complaints
- Predictable storyline The plot follows well-worn paths, offering few surprises for viewers familiar with Nigerian romantic comedies.
- Uneven pacing Some viewers noted that the film loses momentum in the middle, making the runtime feel longer than necessary.
- Underdeveloped side characters Supporting roles, while entertaining, lack depth, making them feel more like plot devices than fully realized individuals.
Recommended for
Nigerian comedy fans Romantic drama lovers Family-themed movie nights
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsLekki IMAX got a dinner party. The reviews did not stay polite.
Friday 11 November 2016, FilmOne IMAX in Lekki. BellaNaija posted the guest list. Kehinde Bankole, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Toni Tones, Kemi Lala Akindoju. Information Nigeria added Kiki Omeili, Bez, Okey Uzoeshi, and Deyemi Okanlawon. Jay Franklyn Jituboh wrote, directed, and produced. Wikipedia says Amstel Malta sponsored the premiere. latestnetflix.com's read is that tMDB clocks 1 hour 50 minutes, Nigeria, 11 November 2016, estimated budget $105,000.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-RR7OwQ3Ak
The official trailer had already gone up in September. Display Universal Studios put it on YouTube. NET flagged RMD, Ireti Doyle, and 2015 AMVCA Best Actress in a Drama Kehinde Bankole. The logline is still the one Netflix uses. Two old friends and their partners. A fifth guest. Secrets that threaten both relationships. , ,
YNaija did not stay for dessert
Two days after the premiere, YNaija ran the headline "Dinner has a woman problem." Isime Esene and Okon Ekpo wrote that Bankole and Keira Hewatch were treated as arm candy. Bankole, they said, could act circles around Enyinna Nwigwe and still had to enter behind him. RMD and Ireti Doyle, they claimed, were rehearsing their Wedding Party dynamic, Doyle getting one line for every five of his. AfriNolly backed the film. Jituboh's short Once had played Durban in 2015. This was his first feature. The reviewers called it forgettable.
NET was colder on plot. The review said the film circles, the camera shakes, Okanlawon's Richie is the one interesting turn, and the last two scenes leave a bad taste. Seun Odukoya, friendlier, still called it a one-time meal. He flagged Lekki Bridge, typecast parents, and a "Nobody talks like that" dialogue problem. BusinessDay's Mohammed Jose came out of the IMAX crowd energy and compared the suspense to Hitchcock. That split is the gossip. Same screening, two temperatures. , ,
The fifth person in the room is Richie Boyo. Wikipedia and the reviews put Okanlawon there as the office buddy who has already slept around the table. Mike wants to propose to Diane. Ade is marrying Lola. By morning the parents arrive and the script, YNaija noted, never explained why they skipped dinner. ,
NET's September preview had already sold the cast as a Nollywood event, not a quiet chamber piece. Then the movie arrived as one night in a house. Netflix still files it under Nollywood, TV-MA, English original, with Uzoeshi, Hewatch, and Nwigwe on the card. The IMAX night was meant to look like a wedding. The column that stuck was the one that said the women never got a plate. , ,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.