A wealthy, arrogant young man steps into a lift in Lagos. A pregnant woman steps in after him. Then the lift stops between floors. As hours pass and help does not come, she goes into labour, and he has to put aside his pride to help deliver the baby. Elevator Baby, directed by Niyi Akinmolayan and released in 2019, is a Nollywood drama set almost entirely in a single cramped space. It relies on its two lead performances, by Timini Egbuson and Toyin Abraham, to hold the audience’s attention.
The story, stars and setting
A spoiled young man from a wealthy family is stuck in a lift with a heavily pregnant woman from a very different background. Timini Egbuson plays the rich young man and Toyin Abraham plays the expectant mother. Niyi Akinmolayan is a Nigerian director known for The Wedding Party 2 and Chief Daddy. The film was produced by Anthill Studios, Akinmolayan’s company.
Most of the film takes place in the lift, which demanded strong acting and careful camera work. The film explores class differences between the two characters and how crisis brings them together.
Toyin Abraham, Timini and Netflix
Toyin Abraham, one of Nollywood’s most popular actresses, gave a performance that many viewers praised. Timini Egbuson, known for his role in the series Skinny Girl in Transit, plays against type as an arrogant man. The film was released in Nigerian cinemas in 2019. It later became available on Netflix, reaching global viewers. Reviews praised the leads and the idea, while some felt the story stretched thin.
Power cuts and lift breakdowns are familiar to many Lagos residents, which made the premise easy to believe for local audiences who had been stuck themselves.
Legacy and Akinmolayan's range
Elevator Baby showed that Nollywood could make a tense drama with very little space. Akinmolayan had made big wedding comedies and family films before Elevator Baby. A tight, two-character drama was a change of pace, and it showed that he could work with a small space as well as a large ensemble. The whole film takes place in a space of a few square metres. In Lagos, where lifts often stop when the power goes off, audiences did not find it hard to believe.
