When “3 Cold Dishes” premiered, it announced itself loudly. A collaboration between Burna Boy’s production imprint and director Asurf Oluseyi, the film offers a potent mix of stylized visuals, cross-border storytelling and female empowerment. Yet, despite its ambition, the reception has been decidedly mixed critics praise its aesthetic guts but question its narrative cohesion and character depth.

Set across Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire and Benin, the story follows three women Fatouma, Esosa and Giselle who, as teenagers, are trafficked and exploited. Years later they reunite and orchestrate a daring mission of revenge against the men who wronged them. The setting is the Abidjan-Lagos corridor, a region loaded with social complexity, corruption and crossover culture. The film uses multiple languages (English and French) and shoots in multiple locations, signaling its Pan-African ambition.

One of the film’s most distinct features is its bold style. Reviewers highlighted chapter-intertitles reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, slick cinematography, and a narrative that hops across time to build its revenge arc. But alongside that style comes critique: some reviewers argue that the film’s multiple strands feel loosely connected, that characterization is broad and that the pacing is uneven. For example, The Guardian wrote that while the film “mostly styles it out to engaging effect”, the “preamble suffers from some garbled storytelling” and “the three leads never feel differentiated in anything other than broad-brush terms.”

Still, the film is being celebrated for what it attempts: a primarily female-led revenge story in African cinema, telling a fraught and furious narrative about survival, solidarity and justice. That it does so across the Abidjan-Lagos corridor a space rarely centered in African thrillers adds to its cultural weight. It also marks a moment of crossover between Afrobeats culture (via Burna Boy) and Pan-African filmmaking, suggesting that African music stars are increasingly stepping into the film space with purpose.

From a production standpoint, the film premiered at London’s Indigo O2 to a sold-out 1,757-guest audience, further underscoring its profile. It also won the Best World Film at the 2025 Harlem International Film Festival, signaling that its ambition is gaining recognition despite its narrative flaws.

For audiences and African cinema stakeholders, “3 Cold Dishes” stands as both opportunity and test. It pushes boundaries: in scope, geography, language and subject matter. But it also shows that ambition alone does not guarantee coherence. The interplay between style and substance remains a challenge, especially in the context of a film that tries to be both edgy and socially conscious.

In conclusion, “3 Cold Dishes” may not be flawless, but it is important. It announces that African filmmakers and creatives refuse to stay within comfort zones they want global stories, high-stakes revenge, and female protagonists who fight back. And if nothing else, it opens the door for more films of this kind bigger, bolder, louder. Burna Boy’s involvement, the Abidjan-Lagos setting, and Asurf Oluseyi’s vision combine to create a cinematic statement that will be debated, appreciated and likely emulated.