Sophie Okonedo is delivering one of her best performances yet in Clarissa, the bold Nigerian retelling of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway that is quietly turning heads on the festival circuit.
Directed by brothers Arie and Chuko Esiri, the film moves the classic interior story from London to Lagos, and the transplant works beautifully. Okonedo plays the lead with a radiant, melancholy depth that anchors an impressively well-cast ensemble around her.
The Esiri brothers, previously known for their promising early work, level up significantly here. The film feels vivid and richly textured, capturing Lagos with the same emotional weight Woolf once gave to London streets. It expands in both ambition and feeling compared to their earlier projects.
For fans of literary adaptations, prestige drama, and Nigerian cinema, Clarissa is the kind of film that sneaks up on you and stays.
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