Grandpa Must Obey (2025): Hard Lessons in a Heartwarming Tale

Grandpa Must Obey is a Nollywood comedy drama, that was released to cinemas in Nigeria on November 21^st, 2025. Directed by Saviour Kings Bob, and written by Chibuzor Afurobi, the film has a runtime of 1 hour, 26 minutes. It follows the story of a bitter grandfather who finds hope, forgiveness, and love through his two exasperatingly chaotic grandkids.

Synopsis

Mabel Okafor is a music label executive who is also a single mother of two kids: Fola, and her little brother, Femi. Due to the fast paced, hectic nature of her job, Mabel hires nannies to look after the kids while she’s away.

The problem is, the children constantly drive away nanny after nanny with crazy pranks, lies and gaslighting, and overall petulant behavior. At her wits’ end after the seventh nanny had quit within 24 hours, Mabel breaks down and lashes out at her kids, lamenting her constant stress, frustration, and exhaustion.

Meanwhile, in the suburban outskirts of Lagos, Akachi Okafor is a bitter, grumpy old man who is also a chronic alcoholic, often spending more time drunk than sober. His neighbor, Yemisi, persistently tries to extend kindness and camaraderie towards him; helping him home during many of his wild nights, offering him food, etc., but he cruelly brushes her off each time. Akachi is also in debt, owing a wealthy friend returns from an investment that unfortunately fell through. With a deadline of one more week, Akachi wonders what he should do.

Christmas is approaching, and Mabel is suddenly appointed to accompany an artist on an international tour for a month. Realizing that her kids will be spending Christmas alone, she attempts to negotiate with them, promising no more nannies. Faced with no other option, she offers to have them spend Christmas with their grandfather.

Akachi is drunk again. He spends the night in his backyard, reminiscing about his late wife, Helen, and bemoans around the circumstances of her death.

“I wish I never allowed you to face that beast…”

The next day, he wakes up in his living room, all cleaned up in a fresh change of clothes, to Yemisi setting up the newly tidied dining area with breakfast. But after lashing out at her, she storms off. Later that day, he receives a text from Mabel asking to bring the kids to him for Christmas. Furious, he calls her and orders her not to do such, expressing visceral disdain for both Mabel and the kids. Desperate, especially after another stunt by the kids, Mabel takes them there anyway.

Upon arrival of Mabel and the Children, Akachi is unsurprisingly not pleased. He silently warns Mabel again to take them back, wishing nothing to do with them. But Mabel settles them in and enlists their help to clean up the whole place, during which she is finally able to convince the kids to like the place.

Fiyinfoluwa Asenuga in Grandpa Must Obey

However, that night, when Akachi comes home drunk again, Mabel confronts him for his decline since her mom’s death. Akachi, in a drunk angry stupor, recounts the details of the incident; Mabel, whose parents prioritized her education, intentionally got pregnant for a man whom her parents didn’t approve of in an act of rebellion…leading to a marriage begrudgingly regarded by her parents, especially Akachi. This proved to be for good reason because after a few years into the marriage, this husband proves to be incredibly abusive towards Mabel and their kids. In a bid to talk some sense into him, Helen had gone for a verbal confrontation without Akachi. However, this was quick to get physical as the husband lashed out and threw Helen down the stairs, leading to her death and his arrest.

The memory causes both Akachi and Mabel to break down, with Mabel going to her shared bed with the kids and crying herself to sleep, much to the kids’ secret despair. The next day, Mabel is about to leave but urges her kids to be nicer to their grandpa. Yemisi, who had been accidentally eavesdropping officially meets and forms a friendship with the two kids after they had succeeded in their first prank to punish for making their mum cry.

Many more pranks later, Yemisi notices how neglectful Akachi has been; the kids often spend the whole day starving and go to bed hungry, much to Yemisi’s rapidly increasing disappointment. One night, a drunken Akachi receives a vision of Helen – who urges him to let go of his anger and see the kids as their family legacy, rather than just a memory of their evil father. But Akachi refuses, stating that it is easier to cope with anger and hate.

The next day, Akachi and the kids begin to grow a relationship after Femi sneaks some of Yemisi’s food to him (despite her initial refusal). However, it all comes to a head when the wealthy business man from earlier comes to retrieve his money and kidnaps the kids as collateral.

The rest of the film delves further into confrontations from Yemisi as she not only helps rescue the kids, but also berates Akachi for his poor attitude and decisions since Helen’s death, causing him to rethink his actions and make amends leading to a warm family reunion and a romantic relationship with Yemisi.

Cast and Performances

Kanayo O. Kanayo as Akachi/Grandpa
Darasimi Nadi as Fola
Fiyinfoluwa Asenuga as Femi
Bimbo Akintola as Yemisi
Yvonne Jegede as Mabel Okafor
Elvina Ibru as Helen Okafor

There is a common theme/concept this movie explores and that is simply: Subtlety and Simplicity. It is prevalent even in the character writing, but in such a precise way that the character development and progression is that much more at the forefront. And honestly…

…they completely nailed it. 10 out of 10.

I love that Grandpa isn’t just a bitter conservative “old-skool” geriatric. He has a genuine reason for acting the way that he does. His character perfectly encompasses grief that is neither healed nor processed properly; the easy resort to anger, the dependency on short-lived highs caused by one vice or another, the urge to self-isolate. It makes it all the more satisfying and refreshing when the development occurs and he begins to heal for the sake of himself and his family.

There are 2 female characters who felt incredibly authentic to me simply due to small details that was included in their presentation: Mabel and Fola.

Mabel is a badass (even if she doesn’t know it), tackling such a fast paced, multitasking job while simultaneously having the patience to gentle parent those kids no matter how infuriating it gets. But everyone has a breaking point, so when she reaches hers and lashes out at her kids, her character isn’t instantly demonized, it is instead treated with understanding and compassion

The reason why I like Fola is even more subtle: she portrays an eldest daughter incredibly well.

Despite her and her brother’s numerous schemes, you can tell that she knows when to step back, when too far is too far. She carries the responsibility of her mother’s emotions. Her plans and pranks seem more targeted towards an end goal, and she ends up taking the lead most of the time.

Yvonne Jegede in Grandpa Must Obey — Yvonne Jegede

What I Liked and Didn’t Like

I love the pacing of this movie. Like I said before, simplicity seems to be the main modus operandi for the film, and such a concept bleeds into the runtime of the movie, keeping it at less than 90 minutes. Do I think it was a bit rushed? Perhaps. But that meant that the messages of the movie were passed across the way they were intended: simple, short, and sweet. I can’t stress enough how much I love how accurately they portray grief and the journey to forgiveness, not just between Mabel and Akachi, but also between Akachi and himself. He had to forgive himself for letting Helen go to confront Mabel’s husband alone.

I also incredibly enjoyed the fact that despite what the premise and initial scenes portray, this isn’t a “stubborn spoilt kids learn discipline” story, but rather one that aimed to teach us some hard lessons about family, grief, and the concept of appreciating what you have before it’s too late.

It was freaking hilarious too. Nollywood humor is on a rather steady decline, so it was refreshing to see something genuinely funny without resorting to old cheap jokes.

Now I was not a fan of the Akachi and Yemisi romantic pairing at the end. That’s the part that definitely felt rushed to me. It’s not that they didn’t have chemistry, it’s just that I wish they had more time to really grow their dynamic from warring neighbours to lovers.

Big kudos to the animators who created the opening and ending credit montages. It gave the movie such a fun feeling.

Lastly, this movie is packed to the brim with powerful female representation across many spectrums: Yemisi is extremely rich and powerful, but chooses a quieter life. Mabel is a powermom, working her way up the corporate ladder (and doing a great job of it too), even the female popstar who, despite her sour attitude, was incredibly determined to make a name for herself. With the addition of Fola, that makes 4 female characters for women and girls to relate to/emulate.

We always love to see it.

Final Thoughts

This movie provides a beautiful and heartfelt story that is nothing short of perfect for this holiday season. While there are hard lessons and key takeaways to observe, they come beautifully wrapped in comedy, tragedy, and everything in between.

I rate Grandpa Must Obey (2025): 3.5 out of 5

Our Rating of This Movie

Merry Christmas everyone! Have you seen this movie? I’d love to hear your thoughts down below. Happy Holidays!

Author

Winifred Eze
Winnie is a business student by day and a writer by night, with a passion for movies and the art of storytelling. Whether it’s dissecting a film’s themes, exploring character arcs, or celebrating cinematic masterpieces, she loves diving deep into the magic of the big screen. She also strives to bring fresh perspectives and engaging discussions to fellow writers and readers.