Elesin Oba: The King's Horseman

Elesin Oba: The King's Horseman

2022 · 96 min · ★ 6.2 · Drama

Inspired by true life events, in the Oyo Empire in the 1940's, Elesin Oba, the king's chief horseman, succumbs to the lure of beauty and sexual desire on the very evening he is set to die in order to fulfil his lifelong debt of ritual suicide to accompany the dead Alaafin to the realm of the ancestors, he derails from a very important generational and spiritual transaction. This sets in motion a series of catastrophic consequences, in a spell-binding film of emotions, humour, and tragic role reversals that puts ancient beliefs and customs on trial in an ever increasingly post-modern and Western world.

Directed by Biyi Bandele · Written by Wole Soyinka

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Cast

Odunlade Adekola Elesin
Shaffy Bello Iyaloja
Olawale-Brymo Olofooro Praise Singer
Deyemi Okanlawon Olunde
Omowunmi Dada Bride
Jide Kosoko Sergeant Amusa
Mark Elderkin Simon
Jenny Stead Jane
Langley Kirkwood Resident
Fares Boulos Aide-de-camp
2 Milly Star Blessing
Kevin Ushi Joseph

Make it a double feature

2h 57m together

Elesin Oba: The King's Horseman

Fela Kuti: Father of Afrobeat

Both from Biyi Bandele.

More from Biyi BandeleSee all →

Bad Boy Blues

Bad Boy Blues · 1996

MovieDramaCrime

Two boyhood friends end up on different sides of the law. How will each react when they meet up for the first time since school?

Blood Sisters

Blood Sisters · 2022

SeriesCrimeDrama

Connected by a dangerous secret, best friends Sarah and Kemi are forced to flee after a wealthy groom disappears at his own engagement party.

Fela Kuti: Father of Afrobeat

Fela Kuti: Father of Afrobeat · 2020

Fela Kuti: Father of Afrobeat

MovieMusicDocumentary

In 1997, over one million people gathered in Lagos for the funeral of Fela Kuti, Africa’s biggest artist, who gave the world Afrobeat, yet was also a thorn in the side of Nigeria’s military regimes - a revolutionary who fought injustice with his music and a libertine who married 27 wives in one ceremony. When he died from a disease that carried a huge stigma in Africa, there was fear his legacy would die with him. Exclusive testimony reveals the multifaceted man behind the maverick performer.

ScreenPlay

ScreenPlay · 1986

Screenplay was a drama anthology television series, broadcast on BBC between 1986 and 1993. Numerous episodes were produced including one named "Boswell and Johnson's Tour of the Western Islands" starring Robbie Coltrane as English writer Samuel Johnson who in the autumn of 1773, visits the Hebrides off the north-west coast of Scotland. That episode was directed by John Byrne and co-starred John Sessions and Celia Imrie.

Fifty

MovieDramaRomance

Tola, Elizabeth, Maria and Kate are four friends forced at midlife to take inventory of their personal lives, while juggling careers and family against the sprawling backdrops of the upper middle-class neighbourhoods of Ikoyi and Victoria Island in Lagos.

Half of a Yellow Sun

Half of a Yellow Sun · 2013

Half of a Yellow Sun

MovieRomanceDrama

An epic love story: Olanna and Kainene are glamorous twins, living a privileged city life in newly independent 1960s Nigeria. The two women make very different choices of lovers, but rivalry and betrayal must be set aside as their lives are swept up in the turbulence of war.

Fela

A chronicle of the life of Fela Kuti, the Nigerian musician and political force who invented Afro-beat music and introduced it to the world.

More Like This

Couldn't load this row right now.

More on NetflixSee all →

Facing El Chapo

Facing El Chapo · 2026

Facing El Chapo

MovieCrimeAction

Two Mexican officers must survive the final hours of their shift after crossing a ruthless cartel boss.

The Whisper Man

The Whisper Man · 2026

The Whisper Man

MovieCrimeDrama

When his young son vanishes, a widower enlists help from his estranged father, a retired detective who put away the serial killer now linked to the case.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Spider-Man: No Way Home · 2021

Spider-Man: No Way Home

MovieActionAdventure

Peter Parker is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a super-hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.

Gandhari

Gandhari · 2026

MovieActionDrama

When a mother loses her eyesight and her daughter in a kidnapping, she takes matters into her own hands to hunt down those responsible.

The Secret Woman

The Secret Woman · 2026

The Secret Woman

MovieDramaThriller

After discovering she has a family and a shipping empire, a woman with amnesia returns to a wealthy and seemingly perfect past to uncover why she left.

Spider-Man

Spider-Man · 2002

MovieActionScience Fiction

After being bitten by a genetically altered spider at Oscorp, nerdy but endearing high school student Peter Parker is endowed with amazing powers to become the superhero known as Spider-Man.

The Last House

The Last House · 2026

MovieHorrorScience Fiction

A family suddenly sealed inside their home must work together to survive against dwindling resources and the ominous threat keeping them trapped.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Spider-Man: Homecoming · 2017

Spider-Man: Homecoming

MovieActionAdventure

Following the events of Captain America: Civil War, Peter Parker, with the help of his mentor Tony Stark, tries to balance his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens, New York City, with fighting crime as his superhero alter ego Spider-Man as a new threat, the Vulture, emerges.

Elize: Shadows of a Woman

Elize: Shadows of a Woman · 2026

Elize: Shadows of a Woman

MovieThrillerCrime

In this retelling of a real case, a former escort discovers her wealthy husband's infidelity and struggles to cope as betrayal poisons their marriage.

Fight Club

Fight Club · 1999

MovieDramaThriller

A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.

Spider-Man 3

Spider-Man 3 · 2007

MovieActionAdventure

The seemingly invincible Spider-Man goes up against an all-new crop of villains—including the shape-shifting Sandman. While Spider-Man’s superpowers are altered by an alien organism, his alter ego, Peter Parker, deals with nemesis Eddie Brock and also gets caught up in a love triangle.

Swapped

Swapped · 2026

MovieAdventureAnimation

A small woodland creature and a majestic bird, two natural sworn enemies of the Valley, magically trade places and set off on an adventure of a lifetime to switch back. Their journey soon uncovers a greater threat—one that could endanger not only their species, but the entire valley they call home.

The Wild Robot

The Wild Robot · 2024

MovieFamilyAnimation

After a shipwreck, an intelligent robot called Roz is stranded on an uninhabited island. To survive the harsh environment, Roz bonds with the island's animals and cares for an orphaned baby goose.

Desire

MovieMysteryDrama

Lucero’s life appears immaculate: a wealthy household, a devoted husband, and two children who embody the promise of a perfect family. Yet beneath this surface simmers a quiet dissatisfaction. When Matías, a young swimming coach hired by her husband, enters their lives, Lucero finds herself pulled into a risky and consuming relationship. As secrecy, desire, and jealousy tighten their grip, the boundaries within the family begin to collapse, placing mother and daughter in a dangerous emotional triangle that threatens to shatter everything Lucero has built.

War Machine

War Machine · 2026

MovieActionScience Fiction

On one last grueling mission during Army Ranger training, a combat engineer must lead his unit in a fight against a giant otherworldly killing machine.

GOAT

MovieAnimationComedy

A small goat with big dreams gets a once-in-a-lifetime shot to join the pros and play roarball, a high-intensity, co-ed, full-contact sport dominated by the fastest, fiercest animals in the world.

Dhamaal 4

Dhamaal 4 · 2026

The Dhamaal boys are back for another treasure hunt, facing hilarious challenges in their quest for the Treasure of Life.

The Terminator

The Terminator · 1984

MovieActionThriller

In the post-apocalyptic future, reigning tyrannical supercomputers teleport a cyborg assassin known as the "Terminator" back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead insurgents against 21st century mechanical hegemony. Meanwhile, the human-resistance movement dispatches a lone warrior to safeguard Sarah. Can he stop the virtually indestructible killing machine?

Spirited Away

Spirited Away · 2001

MovieAnimationFamily

A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.

KPop Demon Hunters

KPop Demon Hunters · 2025

KPop Demon Hunters

MovieFantasyMusic

When K-pop superstars Rumi, Mira and Zoey aren't selling out stadiums, they're using their secret powers to protect their fans from supernatural threats.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter