Seven Doors Review: A Masterpiece Of Yoruba Spirituality

Yourba storytelling is one that will never go out of style.

With each Yourba film that graces our screens, we immediately look forward to the next because directors and producers keep setting the bar, raising the standards and delivering the best.

Seven doors is one of those films whose story will forever linger. Produced by Femi Adebayo the film has a stellar cast that includes Chioma Chukwuka Akpotha, Hafiz Oyetoro, Adebayo ‘Oga Bello’ Salami, Gabriel Afolayan, Jide Kosoko, Dele Odule.

The name of the film already opens up anticipation and excitement as to what the film has in store and trust me, it is worth every minute of your time.

Plot of seven doors

Seven doors starts with a gripping scene, seven women are seen walking along a bush path as if they are being controlled, on getting to the top of a waterfall, these seven women fall down to their death, one after the other. This sets the stage for whatever that is to come in the film.

We are then introduced to Ademidun( Femi Adebayo), a regular guy who lives with his wife and two children in Lagos.

Ademidun’s life and family is one that is enviable, thriving on love and smiles, the ideal family. But everything changes when Ifa the god of Ilara, Ademidun’s hometown chooses his Ademidun to become the next Onilara of Ilara.

Ademidun at first refuses but later takes up his birthright with his wife, Amaka( Chioma Akpotha) promising to be by his side all the way. Ademidun is to undergo several rituals which involve him being accepted by the founding spirits of the land.

At the end of the rituals, he is told that he would have to knock on seven doors after his coronation . After successfully going through the rituals, Ademidun is crowned king Adedunjoye of Ilara.

Adedunjoye was the leader everyone prayed for, he immediately visited the issue of illegal land grabbing that had plagued Ilara for so long. Laws were put in place, offenders were prosecuted and victims were compensated.

The Onilara’s reign started with a promising atmosphere. As someone handpicked by the gods and had successfully passed through the rituals, nothing was expected to go wrong.

Yet everything started falling apart, the first is the death of Fola( Olamide Bakare) the King’s daughter, who was killed by the spirit of death. Soon after, another calamity befell the land, students from the town who were returning from University, got into an accident and all of them died horribly.

This caused a reaction from the chiefs of the land, who visited the king and told him he was the cause of it all, he had ignored the tasks given to him by Ifa and now the community was paying for his disobedience.

Adedunjoye is in shock and calls for the priest of Ifa, who tells him that his refusal to knock on seven doors resulted in the woes facing the community. Translated as marrying seven wives, the Ifa Priest tells Adedunjoye the story of why he must adhere to Ifa’s instruction.

Decades ago, Adedunjoye’s forefather King Adejuwon( Kolawole Ajeyemi) had spilled the blood of his brother just for him to be king. This heinous crime had a repercussion, King Adejuwon would die at the age of 50, making his reign on the throne just five years. Adejuwon didn’t want to die, so he sought help from different herbalists but only one could offer a solution, Esusu.

Esusu( Aliu Gafar) a vile and wicked herbalist was driven out of the town before Adejuwon became king. He promises to extend Adejuwon’s years on earth in exchange for him going back to the village and the life of Adejuwon’s seven wives, whose lives will be added to Adejuwon.

Adejuwon agrees and his wives are killed, this brings us back to the beginning of the film and the seven women who fell to their death, they were Adejuwon’s wives. Like the devil who gives you a solution and adds more sorrows, Adejuwon’s life gets extended but he falls terribly sick, so sick he had to be carried around, the worst part of his predicament was that he couldn’t die, nothing could kill him until he had exhausted the lifeline given to him by Esusu.

Seeing that Esusu tricked him, Adejuwon calls his chiefs together and confesses his crime, he instructed for Esusu to be kicked out of Ilara and while the people did this, they should rain curses on him, throw filth at him and lay down all their woes and sufferings at him. This was how the seven doors ritual came about and how Esusu became an evil spirit that carried the community’s ill luck.

Now, Adedunjoye must marry seven wives and battle with Esusu to save the community from further disaster. This became a huge dilemma for Adedunjoye seeing as he loves his wife so much, but it is a price he has to pay, if he wants to redeem his family lineage and save the community.

Spirituality in Seven Doors

Seven doors is a cinematic greatness, top notch and definitely worthy of every hype it has been receiving so far.

Aside from the great storyline, it is of paramount importance to note how seamlessly the spirituality of the Yoruba ethnic group was infused into the story’s plot to give it more depth. The Yoruba ethnic group has its root tied to the use of charms, worship of God’s and spirits and belief in the supernatural.

The spirits at the ritual: Firstly, Adedunjoye had to become familiar with the spirits of the land before collecting the title of Onilara. He was taken to an eerie room where he was introduced to Ayantoye, the community’s first drummer, Afokunbore, first orator and Okoto’s first son, the first dancer. He is then taken to an inner room by the right and told to sleep only on his right side. That night, Adedunjoye is visited by the founding spirits in a dream and they dance with him, accepting him as the king. The next day, he is told to sleep in the room by the left and to lay only on his left side. After doing this, he is attacked by a spirit who is hefty and strong and they engage in a duel, which Adedunjoye wins.
Aganju: Another spiritual element in the film is Aganju, one of the gods of the land who accepts only cockerels as sacrifices. We see him accepting a cockerel when Adedunjoye was crowned king and rejecting another one when calamity befell the land as a result of Adedunjoye’s disobedience. In response to his refusal of the cockerel, he asks the Ifa priest for more deaths.
Esusu: We also see Esusu’s divination when he killed Adejuwon’s seven wives by manipulating them to their death from the spirit world while they seemingly died of what looked like a heart attack in real life.
The spirit of death: The spirit of death which killed Fola and roamed the palace walls looking for blood is one that is also worthy of note.
The staff: After Adedunjoye was crowned king, some chiefs of the community who were not pleased with his way of leadership, conspired to have him killed using the village staff. The staff is a part of the community’s spiritual heritage that is held only by a particular family. It is only brought out when its mission is to kill, and it can kill the king, if the king sets his eyes on it. After the plan has been put in motion, Opa Yemi(Gabriel Afolayan), the staff holder, races to the palace to set the staff before the king’s eyes but he is stopped on his way and he becomes handicapped as his plan fails.
Tade’s ritual: After the spirit of death took Fola, it came again for Tade, Adedunjoye’s son. Tade is taken to the hospital but the Ifa priest intercedes and tells Adedunjoye that Tade cannot be saved medically. A ritual was carried out with Tade dressed in a white cloth, and placed on a mat and surrounded by lit candles with the Ifa priest singing out incantations.

Seven doors is one of the most watched films of 2024 and as the new year rolls in it is still enjoying viewers’ praises. From the beginning till the end, it will have you stuck to your seat. While many people have labelled it a horror film, the horror scenes are necessary for the plot to evolve and for the tensions to be felt.

Rating: 9/10

Seven doors is currently streaming on Netflix