The Artifact (Stones of Fatima) is a Nollywood Action-Adventure released in cinemas in Nigeria on March 21st 2025. Written and Directed by Tolu Awobiyi, it has a runtime of 1 hour and 47 minutes. It was first premiered at the African International Film Festival (AFRIFF) in 2024.
The movie follows JJ, the son of a deceased museum curator and professor, and his three best friends on a high stake quest to retrieve 3 incredibly valuable gemstones for a mysterious recruiter.
Premise of The Artifact
We are given a brief flashback to 1987, where the National Museum in Jos, Plateau State has been robbed and ransacked. Afterwards, the museum curator; Professor Jang, reveals to his friend and assistant, Abdullahi, that the robbers had come searching for one thing only…he pulls out a female traditional sculpted bust, extracting 3 gemstones from him. Abdullahi expresses his awe at the rarity and value of said gemstones, then the professor reveals that he’d intentionally hid the statue and the gems with it.
"They'll never get their filthy hands on them..."
He then plans to go hide them once again, this time across different locations in the country, The only clue to their whereabouts being a set of notes that he’d written in “NSIBIDI” codes, A written language that the professor had come up with himself and thus only himself understands. Abdullahi points out that Jang’s very young son, JJ, also understands the code and can decipher it.
In the present day, JJ is all grown up, living in Jos with his mother and sister. The museum is struggling due to age and as much as he loves the place, he decides that he needs to head to Lagos to seek out greener pastures, despite his mother’s initial reluctance.
Upon JJ’s arrival at the airport in Lagos, we see Abdullahi sneak a package into JJ’s luggage before disappearing. JJ is then joined by his friends Tunde, and Zara (whom JJ has a crush on) as he heads to his apartment.
Later, Abdullahi is held hostage by a mysterious man who ties him down to railway tracks and questions him on the whereabouts of the “Fatima” and ultimately leaves him to die.
Meanwhile, as JJ settles into his life in Lagos, he eventually discovers the package that was snuck into his bag, it turns out to be a bust sculpture of a woman. He attempts to ignore it, but an unknown number contacts him, revealing that the statue is “The Fatima” and informs him of the three gems it houses. JJ tells the caller that there are no gemstones there, and the caller says they are aware, claiming that JJ’s father had hidden the stones for them, and tells JJ to find the stones using his father’s coded clues in exchange for a large sum of money. JJ is reluctant at first, wary of the dangers involved. However, after receiving millions as an initial payment from the caller, and persistence from Tunde and Zara, he decides to take up the mission with them. They also enlist the help of Zara’s friend Chidinma, who owns a car as they will be travelling constantly.
Kunle Remi as the Villain
Elsewhere, two officers of the African Art Recovery Agency, Essien and Emma are called to service due to the arrival of “The Mist”, a notorious international art thief who escaped custody and is now on the move for its next heist. They are ordered to retrieve him and they work hard to track his movements.
The Mist, who is revealed to be the one behind Abdullahi’s interrogation and death, meets up with a local gang leader, proposing a joint effort to track down The Fatima and its gemstones under the orders of a former Senator. This unfortunately puts the Mist on the tails of JJ and his friends.
What follows is a thrilling adventure as the four friends explore all corners of the country in search of this ancient treasure, unaware of the trials, dangers, and not-so-pleasant surprises that await them.
Cast and Performances
The Artifact features amazing performances by stellar faces in Nollywood such as:
- Adeoluwa Akintoba as JJ
- Ovy Godwin as Tunde
- Miracle Iyanda as Zara
- Sharon Ebiere Rotimi as Chidinma
- Kunle Remi as The Mist
- Bimbo Manuel as Professor Jang
- Gabriel Afolayan as Abdullahi
The acting in this movie was phenomenal for most and average for some. Miracle Iyanda’s performance was mediocre at first but became fantastic at the end, especially during the plot twist reveal.
Adeoluwa Akintoba was equally as great for the character JJ, he gave us the perfect blend of goofiness and emotional turmoil that is expected for a young hero. And don’t get me started on Kunle Remi’s amazing performance as the badass international criminal (the girls are going to love this). He truly gave it his all and it was incredibly intriguing. I wish he could’ve done without the accent tho. It was rather jarring and it was hard to take him seriously sometimes.
"I will shoot you, right between your f**king eyes.."
Now we talk about the characters. Tunde was easily my favourite. Even though he was simply the comedic relief character, he brings a lightheadedness to the movie that would’ve been otherwise difficult to handle if taken too seriously.
Another favourite of mine is Chidinma. She’s bold and assertive and ready for anything. But the characters I’m truly in love with are JJ and the Mist. I’ve said before that I absolutely love a good, strong hero, but I equally enjoy a good villain as well and this film allows me to have both. And they do it so well that I ended up developing a crush on them and their respective actors.
What I Liked About The Artifact
Where do I even start? The characters, the cinematography, the plot. This movie took me on a tour that had me seeing Nigeria in a whole new light. I love that it took the chance to show off the beauty of the country’s landmarks and scenery.
The characters were also very well written and fleshed out. I love that the character Zara wasn’t just “the hero’s love interest/motivation”, she had her own story and contribution to the plot. Huge props to the fact that the romance factor of the movie was well balanced. Not nonexistent but also not overbearing and enough to give our hero some character development.
The action scenes also deserve their flowers (hurray for proper combat choreography). I applaud a character like The Mist, I feel like there were steps taken with him as a villain that Nollywood hasn’t really explored yet. And considering how the film ended, I would definitely not be opposed to a nemesis/rival-type of relationship between him and JJ in potential sequels/franchises. And I cannot stress enough how much I love JJ. But overall, this was a well rounded plot with the right amount of character arcs and plot twists.
What I Didn’t Like
As with most Nollywood movies, I have a problem with the timeline that is portrayed in the film. There is seemingly no difference in the characters and setting that existed in the 1980s and now. And while the pacing of the film is good, there was a lot more focus on the surrounding events rather than the search for the treasure and the lore of it as well. Like why was The Fatima and its gemstones so important? Was there any supernatural lore or were they just ruby, emerald and diamond? Also, this is just my personal opinion, but I don’t like the poster for the movie. It’s just not sufficient enough to capture a movie of this calibre.
Final Thoughts on The Artifact
This was an excellent movie. I had so much fun. Bravo to everyone involved. I love the portrayal of young adults that wasn’t unnecessarily dramatic (affairs, betrayals etc). I hope this film gets as popular as it’s meant to be and I hope it gives way for a whole new genre of Nollywood. I will definitely be here for it.
I rate The Artifact (Stones of Fatima): 4.5 out of 5 stars.
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