Best Romantic Nollywood Movies You Should Watch In 2022
What exactly is life without love? Nothing. And this is why love being a major emotion most Nollywood filmmakers build their storylines around is no surprise to anyone.
Romance is everything when it comes to movies as it always helps to portray the importance of having that special someone in your life, thereby helping to bring couples closer and even tighten the bond in families. Want the best love-inspired Nigerian films to check out right now? See our list of Best Romantic Nollywood Movies You Should Watch In 2022.
1. 2 Weeks In Lagos:
If you are a fan of rom-coms with a lot of controversies, this is the movie for you. It shows a clash between two social classes, and its plot begins with the return of a businessman to Nigeria, who ends up falling in love with a friend’s sister despite his family’s sealed plan to have him settle down with a popular politician’s daughter. It stars Mawuli Gavor and Beverly Naya.
2. The Royal Hibiscus Hotel:
If we are talking about epic Nollywood scenes that involve Zainab Balogun, this movie is filled with them. It actually went on to earn a TIFF 2017 selection after a few months and its plot revolved around a disenchanted chef who did everything to salvage her parent’s falling hotel. This chef ended up having feelings for an investor whose sights are set on the property.
More Read
3. Dear Affy:
This successful 2020 movie project was centred around an engaged couple who battled a lot of uncertainties and difficulties on their road to marriage, including lots of career complications and fidelity problems. It is surely worth watching if you appreciate what love is all about.
4. Tango With Me:
In this very interesting movie, Geneive Nnaji and Joseph Benjamin featured as a newly married couple who go through self-discovery and healing while battling the aftermath of a traumatic event on their wedding night. Genevieve Nnaji and Joseph Benjamin surely killed their roles as lovebirds, and it elevated their careers accordingly.
5. Kasanova:
We all adore rom-coms with the saviour vibe, and this movie delivers all that and more. After the lead actor loses his wife, the single dad found himself indulging in several flings until he meets his son’s music teacher, a beautiful woman who innocently changed how he felt about love again.
6. Special Jollof:
This movie blends African and American cultures and its plot is all about a journalist who goes undercover at a Nigerian restaurant to expose undocumented immigrants he has been tracking down for years. Love emerged somewhere in between and the beautiful storyline evolved from then on.
7. The Bridge:
Tribal prejudice is the topic focused on in this movie and it is all about a Yoruba prince and a young Igbo lady who constantly battle tribalistic parental pressure after their secret wedding. Acting was on point in this project, its love message was passed in a very clear manner, and the director definitely drove home its message.
8. Flower Girl:
If you remember that pretty face we just couldn’t get our eyes off during the early seasons of “Tinsel,” you already know who Damilola Adegbite is. In the movie, Dami played the role of a young florist who was dreaming about a massive future wedding, only to get dumped by her boyfriend when she least expected. Adegbite then decided to win his love back with help from a friend, and what happened next is watch worthy.
9. Kambili: The Whole 30 Yards:
This movie is all about a woman named Kambili who was ready to do all it takes to get married before she clocks 30. Kambili was then forced to quit her troublesome ways and do whatever it takes to win back her ex-boyfriend.
10. Small Chops:
Do not let the title of this movie mislead you, the film is not about food. Its story revolves around a businessman who employs an exotic dancer for a weekend of entertainment. Things soon got messy and a lot of emotions, misunderstandings drama came into play.
11. Fine Wine:
This Nollywood movie features Richard Mofe Damijo and Zainab Balogun, and it focuses on age gap barriers when it comes to romantic relationships. The plot was simply about Zainab who fell for an older RMD after meeting him. Now the rich, old man is left to battle the social stigma around age gap romance during their relationship.
12. She Is:
Launched in 2019, this movie is all about a successful and single woman who is under immense pressure from her family and friends to get married. She then makes up her mind to search for the right partner, but she also consistently refuses to settle for less.
13. Love is War:
This project is directed by the talented Omoni Oboli and it tells the story of a beautiful couple who tested the strength of their marriage when they found themselves running against each other for the office of State Governor.
14. The Eve:
This is another Nollywood movie that displayed Beverley Naya’s acting prowess in ways we have not seen it before. It all started at an epic beach party thrown by friends. At that party, a groom-to-be met a lovely stranger who completely changes his way of seeing life and true love.
15. When Love Happens:
Seyi Babatope is the creative director behind this intriguing project and it was released in 2016. Its storyline is centred around an event planner who had been a victim of heartbreak severally and how she turned to the internet to help locate her Mr Right. She was simply tired of coordinating weddings for everyone else while her own wedding dreams slip away from her grasp.
16. Ayamma:
This is a very unique magical fusion cultural film. Its storyline focuses on an engaged prince who constantly dreams of a stunning maiden who sings beautifully. He was later surprised to meet a lady who looked just like the woman in his dreams, a lady who even sounded like her, in real life.
17. It’s Her Day:
If you want a romance movie that will also make you laugh, it has to be this movie. Its story focuses on a man who promised his fiancée a dream wedding. He will then have to keep up with her lavish requests ahead of the luxury ceremony he promised.
18. The Wedding Party 1 & 2:
Popular as the movie project that predicted Banky W and Adesua Etomi’s marriage, The Wedding Party 1 and 2 pulled a lot of eyeballs when it was released, and rightly so, because it actually one of the best Nollywood movies to come out from Nigeria in recent times.
The plot is built around Banky W and Adesua Ewatomi who attended their lavish traditional marriage, not expecting it to turn into a battle of exes, troublesome parents, and even a home for a few uninvited guests.
Veteran Nollywood Actors Who Used To Play Lover Boy Roles:
Nollywood actors have kept entertaining Nigerians and Africans over the years that we have actually a few of them who became popular for specific roles in the movie industry. These movie stars, on several occasions, have proven that they are the faces to call on for specific crying, comedy, love or wicked roles when the need arises because they never fail to interpret it perfectly at all times.
Take romantic roles, for example, we have actors you look at and immediately call the lover boys of Nollywood. And we have the ones who are nothing more than comedians. For those who grew up in the 90s, you already know who played what, but for the younger generation who knew nothing about the past eras of Nollywood, see our list of Veteran Nollywood Actors Who Used To Play Lover Boy Roles:
1. Ramsey Noah:
The younger Ramsey Noah used to be the face of romantic movies in Nollywood, but not anymore. Despite playing several lover roles in various blockbusters and keeping female fans glued to their screens for several years, age finally caught up with him and he had to leave it for the younger generation of male actors.
The Nollywood legend is more versatile with his roles nowadays and his fanbase deserves praise for staying glued while he evolved his talent.
2. Jim Iyke:
Jim Iyke is definitely one of the most prominent personalities Nollywood has blessed us with, and he was one of the industry’s loverboys for a very long time.
Featuring in more than 300 Nigerian films, with majority having him play the smooth-talking romantic guy, older Jim Iyke still plays a lover boy in most movies to date.
3. Pat Attah:
Popular veteran actor, Pat Attah might no longer be in the Nollywood industry but he is still one of the best lover boy actors Nigerian movie fans will always remember. Known for his cool and calm aura in front of the cameras, Pat never failed to deliver anytime he was called upon for professing how he truly feels about his love interest.
4. Emeka Ike:
Nollywood legends don’t come bigger than this name. He is also one of the first names you hear when it comes to the very romantic lover boys Nollywood has to offer.
Emeka Ike was ever ready to do anything for his love interests, wives, girlfriends in movies, and his incredible acting earned him a lot of praise from the viewers and even his colleagues.
5. Tony Umez:
This talented Nollywood actor is so great at playing a man in love that he became known as the best preacher of love in Nigerian movies. Tony has featured in more than 200 movies in the English and Yoruba factions of Nollywood, and he is popular for displaying deep emotions when he expresses himself to a woman.
He was so good at such roles that Nigerians even compared him to ex-BBNaija housemate, Ozo, who kept insisting on a relationship with Nengi while they were in the house. Sadly, Tony Umez is no longer active as an actor and many don’t even know what he has been up to in recent years.
