To Kill A Monkey: Worth The Hype?

Trust you’re having a good day and a great week ahead. Today, I bring you premium gist on this series I decided to make time to watch.

The normal me wouldn’t have seen this series because of the hype around it but I guess this time around, peer pressure caught up with me and so I had to see what all the noise was about to see if it was worth it. Here’s my take on this show, so let’s dive in.

This movie dives into the life of a Efemini, a father and a husband who’s not able to make ends meet to take care of his pregnant wife. He had to work day and night at different place for a small amount of money which couldn’t do much for him. Due to extreme poverty, he had to let his only daughter, Ivie go stay with an uncle because he didn’t have much to care for her.

Efemini worked day and night and his pregnant wife of about 47 years old also worked as a maid for a rich woman. However, Efemini reached his breaking point when his wife had some complications during her delivery which led to the death of one of their triplets. In this midst of all this, he was required to settle a huge debt at the hospital while his mother in law was also always on his neck to be ‘man’. Through all this, his wife , Nosa never left his side. She understood him and reasoned with him through it all.

Eventually, the hospital manager was able to speak to management to give him some time to get the money to settle his debts. To get this money, Efemini had to sleep with his boss at the bar for money which he later was robbed off, he had to beg his friends and family for money but no one came through for him until one day. While at the bar, a customer came in with his gang and that’s was where his life changed. Apparently, Efemini had saved this man who was known as Oboz the boss’s life way back in the university and he had been searching for him for years. Right there, Oboz settled Efemini’s debt at work and treated him to a good meal.

The days that followed were filled with so many changes in Efemini and his family’s life as Oboz decided to give him a job . But this job had two sides, the good and the bad and it was up to Efe do decide. He rejected the offer but his wife wasn’t having it at all, so he came up with a way to elevate Oboz business to another level. Basically, one the good side, they were dealers in logistics and on the bad side, they were into cyber crime. Training young ones on how to scam people and employing them to work work for them.

Life was good for Efe and his family and he and Oboz grew to become brothers overtime. Then, everything began to fall apart when Teacher, an old man in the game came into the picture asking for a cut out of what Oboz and Efe were doing. Oboe wasn’t having it and Teacher took matters into his own hands by threatening the lives of everyone Oboz and Efe cared about and this even lead to the death of Efe’s mother in law. Everything was falling apart in Efe’s home. His was was constantly on his neck to protect the family after his kids lives were threatened so many times. His daughter Ivie was also pregnant for his brother and friend, Oboz and things turned bad between Efe ans Oboz due to this development.

On the other side, there was Inspector Ogunlesi who just got back from a leave of recovering from the loss of a her entire family in a tragic accident three years ago. She loved her job but coming back meant she was going to be demoted from superintendent to inspector and she didn’t mind. However, she had a problem she was still working on. She couldn’t keep in touch with reality and she was always going between the real world and her imaginations. This though, didn’t prevent her from doing her work well with the help of her work friend, Inspector Onome.
Inspector Ogunlesi suddenly developed interest in the Monkey cybercrime case going on and she took to upon herself to dig into it even without her supervisors support. But, no one believed her discoveries because they thought she was crazy.

Efe, in his quest to protect his family striked a deal with Teacher where he and his family were guaranteed safety only after he has killed his friend, Oboz. He didn’t want to do it but his side chick, Amanda managed to convince him to, claiming it was for the best. But little did he know he was being tricked. The deed was done but he still wasn’t free from Teacher. So, he decided to run away with his side chick and family. The jet was booked as everything was in place.

Surprisingly, Efe had other plans. He went home to get his wife and kids only to find out she was also cheating on him with their doctor. Amanda who was apparently working for Teacher also found out that she had been betrayed by Efe and she was being left behind. Determined to get her revenge, Amanda gave out all evidence she had been gathering just incase it came to this over to inspector Ogunlesi and also shared a video of Oboz’s shooting with her followers on social media.

Before Efe could get away, he was caught red handed with inspector Onome who had apparently been working for him and Oboz. Efe saw his entire life crashing right in front of him , with everyone he ever loved testifying against him with Amanda as lead. A man trying to make it in life so he and his family could live comfortably was pushed to the extent that he lost hold of his morals. How would his case turn out or would that be the end of him with so many targets on his back? You’d have to find out.

I personally would rate this show a 4/10. Now don’t come for me, let me break it down to you. In my point of view, this whole series could have been a single movie or even a two episodes series because honestly, I literally wasted over 8 hours of my time to see a movie which only gave me the chills in the last episode.

The first 3 episodes of the series were nothing worth my time. The fourth to seventh were a bit okay but not totally worth watching and that’s why I say all these 7 episodes could have been boxed into one. For me, only the 8th episode got me into suspense and had me itching for more. So I ask myself, did I have to go through 7 hours of torture just for an hour of something I deserved. Well, what more can I say.

And also, the characters somehow made it so obvious they were acting. We all know it’s a movie but can you at least stop doing too much. Their actions weren’t giving natural vibes.

Aside all these, I’d say this series was a good one as it tackled so many issues all at once. The issue of cyber crime in our countries these days is very alarming. Young boys are putting their lives on the line just because they don’t want to put in the work. This movie also teaches us the importance of patience and not giving in to societal pressure. Those that will pressure you into all these wouldn’t want to stand by you when things are working against you. That’s just the nature of humans. Everyone loves you in your good times guy in your bad times, they’re nowhere to be found.

If you haven’t seen this show, you might as well watch a trailer of the first 6 episodes and see the last 2 episodes. Enjoy!