Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    EA Sports Madden NFL 26 Head Coach But Why Tho 5

    Dear EA Sports, Why Can’t I Make A Hot Coach?

    08/14/2025
    Blade in Marvel Rivals Season 3.5

    Blade Can Shut Down The Other Team In Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 If You Know How

    08/08/2025
    John Cena and Cody Rhodes during Summerslam 2025

    The SummerSlam 2025 Main Event Was A Fever Dream We All Needed

    08/08/2025
    Street Fighter 6 Sagat

    Sagat Brings Depth And Approachability To ‘Street Fighter 6’

    08/07/2025
    Battlefield 6 Classes - Support trailer image

    Battlefield 6 Really Wants You To Play Support (But Knows You Won’t)

    07/31/2025
  • Indie Games
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Apple TV+
But Why Tho?
Home » Film » REVIEW: ‘Mami Wata’ Delivers a Gorgeous and Vivid Fable

REVIEW: ‘Mami Wata’ Delivers a Gorgeous and Vivid Fable

Allyson JohnsonBy Allyson Johnson07/21/20234 Mins ReadUpdated:02/12/2024
Mami Wata
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

Mami Wata

Written and directed by C. J. Obasi, Mami Wata basks in ethereal, vivid, black and white filmmaking. Noteworthy for its abundance of visual beauty and avant-garde framing, the film is a sleek, stylish, and personal depiction of folklore and how it builds off the intersection of spirituality and culture. Based on West African folklore, Mami Wata surrenders itself to a lush, visual landscape that breathes as much life into the story as the characters who share those myths, becoming myth makers and figures of legends themselves. Mami Wata played at the Fantasia International Film Festival 2023. 

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

The opening credits define “Mami Wata” as a “water goddess worshiped and revered across West, Central, and Southern Africa.” That sense of worship is what’s challenged in Obasi’s film, as members of the village Iyi begin to question their faith in the goddess, as their Intermediary, Mama Efe (Rita Edochi) having disappointed them in recent events as children in particular have suffered from either being taken by Mami Wata or have died, the Intermediary’s prayers and practices unable to bring them back. She’s warned by her daughter Zinwe (Uzoamaka Aniunoh) and her protege Prisca (Evelyn Ily Juhen) that the village will need tangible answers soon. 

Tension mounts with the arrival of a rebel deserter, Jasper (Emeka Amakeze) who further threatens the peace of the village. If Mama Efe promotes tradition and faith, and Jasper the violence that stems from the manipulation of power and the promise of progress, then Zinwe and Prisca stand as pillars of positive change and growth. The two are a balance between honoring the fables their village is built on while seeking modernized medicine that could help save a sick child. 

The performances are solid, if not overtly emotive, but it’s the astonishing technical accomplishments that run away with the film. A marriage of tone and form, this surrealist film, formatted like multiple fables, creates individual frames of pure art. This is especially true of any scene on the beach. For a film so often drowned in the curtain of night, the scenes shot during the day are particularly vibrant. The use of black and white recalls similar landscape imagery as classic filmmakers, from Ingmar Bergman to Akira Kurosawa. There’s something eerie about the daytime as captured by Obasi and cinematographer Lílis Soares. By contrast, the night scenes, especially those as Zinwe or Prisca stand small in the presence of the ocean, become more dreamlike, detached from the world as so often it’s just the character’s profile that is lit amongst black backdrops. 

Mami Wata

From the traditional costuming and makeup to the sound design that makes it so the ocean and the depths of its mystery remain an omnipresent figure in the film, Mami Wata is moving through its artistry. The score by Tunde Jegede is similarly stirring, creating such a vivacious, sonic landscape that the dialogue nearly becomes unnecessary when added to the scope of the world and the clear focus on the actor’s faces as they silently take in the world. 

The only main drawback is the pacing, which struggles to maintain a sense of momentum in the plot. The film works best as a tone poem, awash in feeling through imagery rather than clear plotting and the relationships between characters. Obasi’s film is enormously ambitious, and there’s certainly a personal indulgence that infuses the story, elongating a runtime that could’ve been shortened for greater impact and clarity. The imagery and its beauty are abundant, but it’s threatened to be overlooked as the film takes its time in moving the story forward in each act. 

Regardless, Mami Wata is gorgeous. The distinctive visuals and craftsmanship behind the scenes build a picture that’s captivating, creating something bold, dreamlike, and mythical, as it tackles topics of realism and fable to transform the old into the new. C. J. Obasi’s latest is a profound, sensory experience. 

Mami Wata is out now. 

Mami Wata
  • 7/10
    Rating - 7/10
7/10

TL;DR

Mami Wata is gorgeous. The distinctive visuals and craftsmanship behind the scenes build a picture that’s captivating, creating something bold, dreamlike, and mythical, as it tackles topics of realism and fable to transform the old into the new.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleREVIEW: ‘LINK CLICK,’ Season 2 Episode 3 — “Two Funerals”
Next Article SDCC 2023: Bandai Namco Brings the House
Allyson Johnson

Allyson Johnson is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of InBetweenDrafts. Former Editor-in-Chief at TheYoungFolks, she is a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and the Boston Online Film Critics Association. Her writing has also appeared at CambridgeDay, ThePlaylist, Pajiba, VagueVisages, RogerEbert, TheBostonGlobe, Inverse, Bustle, her Substack, and every scrap of paper within her reach.

Related Posts

Madelyn Cline and KJ Apa in The Map That Leads to You
8.0

REVIEW: ‘The Map That Leads To You’ Is YA Romance Done Right

08/19/2025
Lurker promotional still from MUBI

REVIEW: ‘Lurker’ Probes The Intoxication Of Fame

08/19/2025
The Knife (2025) promotional still
7.0

REVIEW: ‘The Knife’ Is Simple And Too Much At The Same Time

08/17/2025
Still from Shin Godzilla
8.5

REVIEW: ‘Shin Godzilla’ Is More Relevant Than Ever

08/16/2025
Fixed promotional key art from Netflix Animation
6.0

REVIEW: ‘Fixed’ Is Top-Notch Animation But Bottom Of The Barrel Comedy

08/15/2025
Denzel Washington Highest 2 Lowest
7.0

REVIEW: ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ Has A Ton Of Fun Missing It’s Own Points

08/15/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
Still from Shin Godzilla
8.5
Film

REVIEW: ‘Shin Godzilla’ Is More Relevant Than Ever

By Sarah Musnicky08/16/2025Updated:08/17/2025

It is understandable how Shin Godzilla succeeded at the box office nearly a decade ago. The strength of its story still stands today.

Botanical Bliss Update Palia But Why Tho 5 News

Palia’s New Botanical Bliss Update Brings New Flora, Decorations, And Quest Mechanic

By Matt Donahue08/18/2025Updated:08/18/2025

The Botanical Bliss update adds new event, more plushes, and a host of quality-of-life improvements and more to celebrate 2 years of Palia.

BOOTS Netflix First Look promotional images News

First Look at Coming-of-Age Story BOOTS, Coming to Netflix This October

By But Why Tho?08/17/2025

Netflix is reporting for duty this fall with the new eight-episode series BOOTS, a comedic drama starring Miles Heizer and Vera Farmiga

Nuestra Magia Secret Lair Art Interviews

EXCLUSIVE: How The ‘Nuestra Magia’ Secret Lair Found Its Identity And Raised Over $1M

By Kate Sánchez08/15/2025Updated:08/15/2025

We spoke with Ovidio Cartagena about Magic: The Gathering’s Nuestra Magia Secret Lair drop, its impact, and the real treasure within.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here