3 Cold Dishes is a cross-border crime drama produced by Burna Boy and directed by Asurf Oluseyi. Set across Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Benin Republic, it follows three young women trafficked in 2002 who resurface sixteen years later as armed robbers seeking vengeance.
Mama Janice (Amelie Mbaye) narrates their story to a beret-wearing journalist (Femi Jacobs) in a framing device that often feels more distracting than illuminating. The film promises a fierce femme-first revenge spree, but choppy pacing, uneven performances, and a plot that forgets its own rules turn a complex idea into a frustrating watch.
3 Cold Dishes
Directed by: Asurf Oluseyi
Written by: Oluseyi Asurf, Tomi Adesina
Genre: Thriller
Released on: November 7, 2025 (Cinemas)
Language: English, French
Escaping the Web of Male Violence
3 Cold Dishes offers a sobering perspective on the continent-wide crisis of human trafficking. The film refuses to let its protagonists simply break free after one act of rebellion. Even after the pimp’s death in a police raid, Fatouma, Esosa, and Giselle remain entangled in new forms of exploitation.
Fatouma serves a corrupt general, Giselle is pawned off to a local chief, and Esosa is shuttled across borders by family. Their bodies and choices are never fully their own. This cyclical entrapment is the film’s most compelling idea, illustrating how trafficking does not end with rescue but morphs into different cages.
The line “Justice is slow… even with some corruption” lands with quiet devastation, speaking directly to African audiences familiar with institutional failure. Unfortunately, the film raises these weighty themes but rarely delves into the psychological wreckage they leave behind. We see the women scream at the climax, yet because their inner lives remain unexplored, the catharsis feels hollow and unearned.
Three Chapters, Too Many Cracks
Divided into three distinct time periods (2002 trafficking tagged “3 Cold Dishes; The Old Testament”, the raid’s aftermath, and present-day revenge), the chapter format initially feels promising. Each woman’s origin story carries real emotional charge on paper: Fatouma lured by a Pastor Fred with dreams of Parisian football glory, Esosa betrayed by her uncle Bankole, Giselle sold by her grandmother and subjected to gang rape.
These moments are rendered with occasional haunting imagery, a desert expanse that swallows sound. Yet the execution is rushed. Key events blur past, leaving viewers struggling to track who did what to whom and why it matters now.
The framing device of Mama Janice recounting everything to the journalist only exacerbates the problem. Instead of deepening context, it constantly yanks attention away from the trio’s lived experience, turning potentially immersive sequences into detached anecdotes.
Character Differentiation and Performance Disparities
The three leads never fully emerge as individuals. Fatouma is defined by her military ties, Giselle by poorly explained supernatural episodes that seem forced into the narrative rather than organic to it, and Esosa by her status as the lone anglophone.
This lack of nuance is compounded by linguistic inconsistency: despite supposedly learning French to survive, adult Esosa speaks almost exclusively in English while others flow seamlessly in French, shattering immersion in a Francophone setting. Performance quality mirrors this unevenness. Young Ruby Akubueze delivers a heartbreaking turn as teenage Esosa, her pleas raw and believable.
The teenage trio’s fleeting dynamic rings truer than anything in the adult timeline. Once the actors age up, cracks appear. Osas Ighodaro feels unsteady, Fat Touré leans into rage without modulation, and Maud Guerard struggles with a thinly written role. Among the supporting cast, Wale Ojo’s Uncle Bankole stands out as genuinely chilling, dripping with calculated evil.
Technical Brilliance Meets Executional Stumbles
Cinematography is unequivocally the film’s crown jewel. From the unforgiving desert, every frame is composed with confidence. The shift between French and English dialogue feels organic, reflecting real cross-border realities. A motorcycle chase across barren terrain looks spectacular in wide shots, even if the actual action disappoints. Sound design subtly enhances tension, letting silence speak as loudly as gunfire. Yet these strengths cannot paper over deeper flaws.
Action sequences underwhelm, often cutting away just as momentum builds. Exposition arrives in heavy, indigestible chunks. Unnecessary detours, police officers leering over the women’s beauty, henchmen debating paltry pay, drag the pacing without adding insight. Most baffling is a late-film cartoon sequence that arrives out of tone.
Final Thoughts
3 Cold Dishes is a film of undeniable ambition that ultimately buckles under its own contradictions. Unfortunately, garbled storytelling, rushed pacing, and a script that abandons its own logic turn ambition into frustration. The revenge, promised cold and calculated, arrives lukewarm and haphazard, lacking the strategic precision that could have made it satisfying. The supernatural elements never cohere, and the emotional payoff never arrives.
Credit is due for tackling a serious issue and achieving watchability, but the scaffolding collapses long before the end. For all its flaws, the film deserves recognition for tackling human trafficking from a fresh angle, for its stunning visuals, and for proving that pan-African stories can command cinematic scope. A tighter script, deeper psychological exploration, and trust in its own imagery could have transformed it into a modern classic.
As it stands, it remains a beautiful, frustrating near-miss, one that leaves viewers with striking images but far too many unanswered questions.
Verdict
3 Cold Dishes will satisfy viewers who prize aesthetics over story and are willing to forgive narrative chaos.
It disappoints those seeking deep character work or a truly gripping revenge saga.
Occasionally dazzling yet meandering, it hints at a brighter future for ambitious African genre filmmaking.
Rating: 2.25/5
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