The Other Side of the Bridge

The Other Side of the Bridge has two tremendous lead performances and a boxing premise that could have elevated Nigerian sports cinema into a new category. Tobi Bakre and Demi Banwo play childhood friends who end up on opposite sides of a Lekki bridge riot — and, years later, on opposite sides of a boxing ring. The concept is rich. The execution is frustratingly cautious.

Both actors commit fully. Bakre, playing the scrappy underdog from the mainland, brings the film’s most physical and emotionally raw performance. Banwo as the polished Island-born boxer-turned-promoter is all controlled menace. Their scenes together crackle with unspoken class tension that the film seems reluctant to fully explore.

Director Kenneth Gyang choreographs the fight sequences with real energy — the final bout is technically the best boxing filmmaking Nigeria has produced. But surrounding those sequences are dialogue scenes that trade the script’s genuine class commentary for easier resolution. The third act, in particular, forgives too quickly and explains too much.

Teniola Aladese is wasted in an underwritten love interest role that deserves its own film. The Lagos underclass setting is vivid but inconsistently rendered — some scenes feel observed, others staged.

Verdict: Great boxing. Tame drama. A film that mistakes restraint for depth but still delivers enough raw energy to recommend.