In ‘The Lost Days’, family is both the story and the story behind the story. On screen, Moses (Baaj Adebule) and Kola (Durotimi Okutagidi) are raised as brothers in Abeokuta, only to discover their ties are more complicated than they imagined. Off screen, the two actors also learnt they shared blood, a discovery that added unexpected depth to their chemistry.
Adebule remembers it clearly. Two years ago at the 2023 AFRIFF, a young actor approached him and introduced himself as his nephew. “It caught me off guard,” Adebule said. “We hadn’t grown up close, but he came with this humility and excitement. I didn’t forget it.” When they met again on set for ‘The Lost Days’, the chemistry felt almost uncanny. “It was like a sixth sense thing. We looked at each other and just knew we were good.”
‘The Lost Days’ is more than a reunion. It’s the ninth feature in the First Features Project, an initiative by Steve Gukas and Dotun Olakunri designed to support emotionally nuanced stories led by first-time directors; in this case, the director making her debut is Wingonia Ikpi.
For Adebule, watching Okutagidi step into the role of Kola was also a revelation. “He’s a generous actor, humble but obsessive about the craft. You can tell he does the work, and that makes it easy to give and take on set.”
That work began long before cameras rolled. Director Wingonia Ikpi handed Okutagidi a 125-page treatment filled with character palettes, motivations, and even playlists for each role. Okutagidi took it seriously.
He studied street conductors, recorded multiple videos to test Kola’s walk and voice, and read the script over and over to build a detailed backstory. “I didn’t want it to be one-dimensional,” he said. “Kola had layers: rage, compassion, loyalty, fear. To play him, I had to discover new parts of myself.”
Ikpi saw that discipline immediately. She’d noticed it first on the set of ‘Son of the Soil’, but ‘The Lost Days’ confirmed her instincts. “When he read for Kola, it was clear to everyone in the room. He digs into the script, breaks it down, and commits 100 per cent. He’s one of those actors you can trust to bring more than what’s on the page.”
The film’s story about a kidnapping gone wrong by two sons of their mother demanded that kind of commitment. Kola is the brother who chooses compassion over violence, setting him at odds with Moses and pulling him into moral territory that can be difficult for a young actor to carry convincingly. But Okutagidi leaned into the contradictions. “Every role is an invitation,” he said. “Not just for me to step into a story, but for the audience to believe it.”
Ifeoma Fafunwa led the cast, which included Bimbo Manuel in her on-screen debut, a role that mirrored her leap into uncertainty. The celebrated director of ‘Hear Word!’ admitted she almost didn’t show up for the audition: “What if I do a bad job?” she said. But Chisom reflected her impulse to break out, and she leaned into the unknown.
Belief is already coming Okutagidi’s way. With his transformation in ‘The Lost Days’, he’s making a statement early that he has range and seriousness. His collaborators say he’s ambitious and relentless about learning. He says he’s curious about people, psychology, and the small truths that drive big actions.
On screen, that curiosity reads as conviction. It’s why Ikpi describes him as “a standout talent” and why Baaj Adebule speaks about him as a kindred spirit.
To watch Baaj Adebule and Durotimi Okutagidi bring that bond to life, alongside Ifeoma Fafunwa, Bimbo Manuel, and Cynthia Clarke, ‘The Lost Days’ is now streaming exclusively on Prime Video.
Watch Durotimi Okutagidi in the Official Trailer of ‘The Lost Days’
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