The Nigerian film industry, in its modern incarnation, is a source of immense national and continental pride. Its stories have become global cultural exports, celebrated for their energy, authenticity, and unique perspective. Yet, even the most ardent Nollywood fans, both at home and in the diaspora, have at times experienced a distinct feeling of narrative déjà vu—a sense that they have seen this story, or at least a version of it, before. This critique of repetitiveness, of recurring plotlines and familiar character archetypes, is one of the most persistent conversations surrounding the industry.
This phenomenon, however, is not a simple symptom of a lack of creativity. On the contrary, it is the complex result of powerful commercial pressures, structural realities within the screenwriting process, and deep-seated cultural preoccupations that Nigerian cinema has always sought to explore. To dismiss this repetition as a creative failure is to overlook the intricate machinery that drives Nollywood. Understanding why some scripts feel familiar requires a deep dive into the business, the craft, and the very soul of Nigerian storytelling.
What Are the Commercial Pressures That Drive Familiarity?
At its core, New Nollywood is a business, an industry where films are products that must deliver a return on investment. This commercial reality is arguably the single most powerful force shaping the kinds of stories that get told, and it often creates a powerful incentive for producers and investors to favor the familiar over the experimental.
How Does the “Success Breeds Imitation” Model Work?
In any film industry around the world, success creates a blueprint. When a film achieves phenomenal commercial success, it doesn’t just make money; it creates a market trend. This is the “success breeds imitation” model, and it is a powerful force in Nollywood. The logic is simple and compelling for an investor: if a particular genre, theme, or narrative structure has proven its ability to attract a massive audience, funding a similar project is perceived as a significantly lower financial risk than backing a completely original, untested idea.
A perfect example is the “wedding rom-com” boom that followed the record-shattering success of Kemi Adetiba’s The Wedding Party in 2016. Its perfect blend of ensemble comedy, lavish spectacle, and relatable family drama created a winning formula. In the years that followed, the market saw a wave of films built around similar premises. Likewise, the critical and commercial triumph of a gritty crime epic like King of Boys demonstrated a strong audience appetite for complex, dark, and politically-charged narratives, paving the way for more films and series in that vein. This imitation is not necessarily cynical; it is a rational market response to clear audience demand.
Why is Audience Expectation a Powerful Force?
Filmmakers are in a constant dialogue with their audience, and audiences often approach a film with a clear set of expectations, particularly within established genres. When a viewer pays for a ticket to a romantic comedy, they are often implicitly seeking the comfort and satisfaction of a familiar emotional journey: the charming “meet-cute,” the inevitable conflict that pulls the lovers apart, and the heartwarming final reconciliation.
Producers and screenwriters are acutely aware of these genre conventions. Deliberately subverting them is a creative risk that can alienate the very audience they are trying to attract. This leads to the frequent use of popular character archetypes—the witty best friend, the disapproving wealthy matriarch, the charming but flawed love interest—because these characters are a form of narrative shorthand. They serve a clear and effective function within a familiar structure, allowing the story to move forward efficiently. While this can sometimes lead to cliché, it is often a conscious choice made to satisfy a known market preference.
Are There Structural Challenges in the Screenwriting Process?
Beyond the commercial pressures, there are structural and developmental realities within the industry’s creative pipeline that can also contribute to a sense of narrative repetition.
How Does the Speed of Production Impact Script Quality?
The modern Nollywood landscape, particularly with the voracious appetite of streaming platforms for new content, operates under immense pressure. While the production timelines are not as frenetic as in the old direct-to-video days, the demand for a consistent flow of movies and series is relentless. This can lead to significantly compressed development schedules. A screenwriter may not have the luxury of spending several years nurturing a script through multiple drafts.
When deadlines are tight, writers and producers may naturally gravitate towards familiar story structures and tropes as a reliable framework to build upon. These established narrative patterns provide a solid and efficient foundation, but they can also inhibit the development of more unique and unconventional stories that often require more time for discovery and refinement.
Is There a Shortage of Experienced Script Editors and Developers?
In more established film industries, a screenplay goes through a rigorous and collaborative development process long before it ever gets near a film set. This process is guided by experienced script editors and creative executives—often called “story doctors”—whose entire job is to challenge the writer, strengthen the plot, deepen the characters, and help eliminate clichés.
While Nollywood is rapidly professionalizing, this dedicated script development infrastructure is still maturing. Historically, the director or producer has often served as the de facto script editor. While many are brilliant storytellers, they are also juggling a dozen other responsibilities. The specialized role of the script editor, who can provide focused, objective, and expert feedback, is becoming more common but is not yet a universal standard. As a result, some scripts may go into production in a less polished state, with repetitive elements and unresolved structural issues that a more robust development process might have caught and corrected.
What Are the Thematic and Cultural Reasons for Repetition?
Sometimes, what appears to be a repetitive plot is actually Nollywood engaging in an enduring cultural conversation. Nigerian cinema has always held up a mirror to the society it serves, and certain themes are so central to the Nigerian experience that they are explored again and again, from different perspectives.
Why Do Certain Core Themes Resonate So Deeply?
There are foundational pillars of Nigerian life and society that provide an endless well of dramatic potential. These are the themes that are perpetually relevant to the audience.
- Family Dynamics: The family unit is the bedrock of Nigerian society, making stories about sibling rivalries, inheritance disputes, the immense pressure to marry, and the clash between generations eternally resonant.
- The Hustle Culture: Narratives centered on the relentless drive for upward mobility—from the street-level hustle to the high-stakes corporate boardroom—reflect a core aspect of the national psyche.
- Spirituality and Belief: The dynamic and often tense relationship between modern Christianity or Islam and traditional African spiritual beliefs is a uniquely potent source of conflict that Nollywood has masterfully explored for decades.
- Social and Political Commentary: Stories about corruption, inequality, and the desire for a better life (including the “japa” theme of wanting to leave the country) are direct reflections of real-world anxieties and aspirations.
These are not just repetitive plots; they are ongoing national dialogues. Each new film that tackles these themes is offering a fresh perspective on a conversation that matters deeply to its audience.
How is the Industry Breaking the Cycle?
Crucially, the Nigerian film industry is not static. It is a self-aware and rapidly evolving ecosystem, and many of its leading voices are actively pushing against the very notion of a creative formula.
- The Rise of Auteur Directors: A growing number of filmmakers are being celebrated for their distinct and uncompromising creative visions. Directors like C.J. “Fiery” Obasi with his critically acclaimed black-and-white folk-horror film Mami Wata, or Kunle Afolayan with his mythological epics like Anikulapo, are proving that there is a significant audience for bold, artistically-driven stories that defy easy categorization.
- The Streaming Effect: While streaming platforms can contribute to formulaic content, they also have a vested interest in portfolio diversity. To cater to a global audience with varied tastes, they provide a crucial space for niche genres like science fiction, horror, and historical dramas that might be considered too risky for a wide theatrical release.
- Investment in Writer’s Rooms: The global success of the series format is popularizing the concept of the writer’s room in Nollywood. This collaborative model, where multiple writers work together to break stories and develop scripts over a season, can lead to more complex, layered, and unpredictable narratives than a single writer working under a tight deadline.
In conclusion, the feeling that some Nollywood scripts are repetitive is a valid observation, but it is not a sign of creative bankruptcy. It is a reflection of a dynamic industry grappling with the laws of commerce, the challenges of rapid growth, and its role as a cultural mirror. The tension between the safe bet and the bold risk is a reality in every film industry on earth. As Nollywood continues to mature, invest in its creative infrastructure, and empower a new generation of diverse storytellers, the balance is steadily tipping towards the bold, proving that the industry’s capacity for original, groundbreaking stories is truly limitless.