The 4th Generation (2025)

I was scrolling on status updates when I came across this movie. The first thing that caught my eye was the name followed by the length which was only an hour. Then I got intrigued from the caption on the status:

I wondered if it had to do with betrayal, maybe a man’s failure to his family or something, which it looked like from the poster. At first, I thought it was mostly about the women and their lives, not as a family, but maybe as acquaintances or something of that nature.

I was in a way right but then I was mostly wrong. This movie is quite spiritual and has to do with warfare. If you’re not inclined to things of the spirit, this movie may not be for you especially if you’re religiously sensitive.

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The Fourth Generation is a movie by Toyin Abraham who also played the role of Awawu, a mother concerned with the trend she noticed in the family. Her worry deepens with reoccurring dreams and a daughter who abruptly leaves her marriage. Awawu, deeply perturbed, decides to seek solutions. She tries soft approaches and then goes hardcore when it gets tough.

For a movie that’s only an hour, it was impactful. It carried a message especially for this generation in countries like ours. I started watching on a whim, now I’m glad that I did.

The first thing I must note was the religion used to depict this movie. The Islamic religion. I’m quite ignorant in this respect but this movie showed that not only Christianity faces warfare in the realm of the spirit. I also think this is the first of many movies like this I watched that didn’t use Christianity as the sole focus.

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The second thing are the characters. A desperate grandma, a prayerless mother and a nonchalant daughter. The main character here was definitely Awawu. There was a scene that carried raw energy when she confronted Rukayat, her mother. If you listen to the words, there were underlying tones of pain, neglect and anger. Awawu was angry at her mom, at her situation and at herself. Maybe if she had noticed those signs earlier, she would have done something earlier. Maybe her daughter wouldn’t have left her husband’s house. Maybe she would not have left her husband’s house.

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Rukayat (Bimbo Akintola) was the very definition of “selective parents”. A few weeks ago I had this small exchange of thoughts on who a parent should be. Someone believed that parents choose their difficulties and I disagreed because a parents only choice (in my opinion) lies in the yes or no to the bringing of a child to this world. After that, your life is no longer yours. All you are and have goes into that very life you created.

For such a short movie, it was worth the watch. It communicates lessons rather than aesthetics and knowledge for entertainment. Of course, not everyone would be inclined to a movie such as this, but those who are would find it rather interesting. The message here was to both men and women. The importance of Prayer.

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If I am to rate this movie, I would give it an 8.5/10. The storyline was simple, the characters kept to a minimum and the actors did a good job. Fact remains, many things in this world can’t be explained through logic alone. You need a discerning spirit.