Following the success of the Aníkúlápó movie, Netflix Naija has followed up the fantasy film with a sequel series, Rise of the Spectre. Like the original film, it showcases Yoruba culture with its excellent production design, and incorporates some familiar fantastical elements, like Saro’s resurrection. The premise is also pretty interesting, as it directly deals with the spiritual consequences of the first film. However, the show has less of the resurrection powers being used, with less time seeing the fantastical crow that grants Saro’s powers, and more time dedicated to dialogue heavy scenes that are tough to follow without watching the first film. Aníkúlápó: Rise of the Spectre has less of the fantasy we hoped to see.

Aníkúlápó was said to be inspired by Game of Thrones for its fantastical and royalty elements, but the film was a tad too lengthy with its near two hour runtime, and plenty of plotlines. Rise of the Spectre tries to solve this, through expanding the runtime to expand on the plotlines, but the way the series structured doesn’t ease the length and the confusing way the plot is laid out.