The new trailer for “My Father’s Shadow” cements it as one of the major international releases of early 2026. A semi-autobiographical debut from Akinola Davies Jr., the film has already garnered a substantial haul of festival and awards-season accolades and now arrives positioned as the United Kingdom’s official submission for Best International Film at the 98th Academy Awards.
Set over the course of a single day in Lagos during the 1993 Nigerian election crisis, “My Father’s Shadow” follows a father, estranged from his two young sons, as they navigate the massive, volatile city while political unrest threatens their journey home. The premise is simple yet loaded: a fragile attempt at reconnection unfolds against a backdrop of looming national upheaval, with each detour and delay hinting at how easily the world can derail personal hopes outside the car window.
Davies’ film arrives with serious hardware already attached. At the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, it won the Caméra d’Or Special Mention, announcing the director as a major new voice. It went on to claim Best Director at the 2025 British Independent Film Awards, and at the 2025 Gotham Awards, it took both Breakthrough Director and Outstanding Lead Performance, the latter for star Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù. Those prizes suggest a debut that’s not just formally assured but emotionally direct enough to connect across multiple voting bodies.
The cast pairs Dìrísù with young actors Chibuike Marvellous Egbo and Godwin Egbo as the sons trying to decode who their father really is over the course of a single, precarious day. Behind the camera, Davies co-writes with Wale Davies, while producers Rachel Dargavel and Funmbi Ogunbanwo help translate a profoundly personal story into a cinematic Lagos odyssey.
Critical response so far has been emphatic. The Playlist’s Carlos Aguilar gave it an A and hailed it as “one of the most stirring debuts in recent years.” For audiences, the new trailer is less a discovery than a confirmation that this father–son road movie through a city on the brink is going to be essential viewing when “My Father’s Shadow” opens in theaters on February 6.
Credit: https://theplaylist.net/
