Nigerian drama series explores the lives of queer teens in high school

A Nigerian web series produced by Awakening Films, Mostly Straight, explores themes about queer love, friendships, sexuality, and growing up gay.

By NoStringsNG Writer

The series that appears to have been overlooked by many depicts the lives of gay students in a fictitious Nigerian secondary school (high school) as they navigate their coming of age.

Promotional Poster for the series Mostly Straight. (Source: Facebook)

In a market where Nigerian creative on social media churn out an influx of content to entertain and trigger laughs, Mostly Straight takes an unpopular and quiet unexplored niche in the Nigerian online entertainment scene, and it succeeds brilliantly.

Unlike the recent Netflix Nigeria movie titled “Far from Home,” which painted a highly fantastical version of the actual experiences of an average Nigerian High school, Mostly Straight portrays a more realistic view of Nigerian high school life. It brings to life the school uniforms, mindless banter, serving corporal punishment, uptight teachers, students goofing around, and unending teenage drama, all except for profanity and mobile phone usage. The actors do a fantastic job of staying on course with the interpretation of their characters.

Directed by cast member Ivan Imoka and produced by Henry Chukz and Ivan Imoka and written by Obasi Nnamdi, Mostly Straight stars Henry Chukz, Johnpaul Gosioha, Kimbel Simeon, Ivan Imoka, Jessica Ndigwe, Shawn Foster, Anyaene Nkiru, Angela Udewulu, and Oscar Udeoji.

The series primarily focuses on a group of four high school friends from Adorable high school: Casmir-Cas, Dominion, Ebube, and Akachukwu, as they navigate the trials and tribulations of high school life. Branded as a comedy series, Mostly Straight never fails to intermittently arouse a smile from its audience, either through its quirky and irreverent characters or through its sometimes ludicrous dialogue.

While the characters are written with little to no depth, not much is lost in the pacing of the story, as the series is focused more on the interaction between the students at the Gold special class than their own personal lives. The series further explores hard-hitting topics like sex, depression, and drug use. The “bro code,” a body of unwritten rules of communication being upheld by the four, is pivotal to understanding how the friendship dynamic plays out between them. However, as the friendship faces real issues, the bro code is challenged as the series progresses.

The series does an almost impeccable job when it comes to production for a web series. The cinematic quality, lighting, sound engineering, setting, and costumes are vibrant and compelling, with a few notches shy of being a professional big studio production. Mostly Straight could easily fit into a Netflix series as it checks all the boxes for a high school drama series, similar to those on the streaming platform. There is a genuine chance of the series being picked up by a big studio and expanded upon, even stand a chance of being at par with other international shows like Elite, Euphoria, and Sex Education.

However, despite its impressive qualities, the series hasn’t received the needed attention, probably due to a lack of adequate marketing. Nonetheless, Mostly Straight is a must-watch for anyone interested in Nigerian indie comedy-dramas exploring themes about queer love, friendships, sexuality, and growing up gay.

To watch the film click HERE.