Part of review forum on “Ẹlẹṣin Ọba: The King’s Horseman.”

Biyi Bandele’s Ẹlẹṣin Ọba (2022) illuminates the metaphysical, moral, and ritual foundations of death within Yoruba cosmology, where the passage to the afterlife is not an end but a vital transition to becoming an ancestor. The film’s tragic unraveling—caused by colonial interference, moral weakness, and generational discord—underscores how the Yoruba concept of personhood is deeply tied to communal continuity, ancestral honor, and cosmic balance. In the traditional Yoruba worldview, death at an old age is viewed as a transition to the afterlife, a necessary passage to the ancestral world, where a deceased individual becomes a spiritualized body (ará-ọrun). This transition reaffirms the social, spiritual, and cosmic order that is carved out of a tripartite conception of existence: the unborn, the living, and the dead/ ancestors. Thus, death is not feared but revered when it occurs in line with the natural process of growing old and ritual propriety. Since specific individuals are carved out as sacred bodies, their death is a ritualized process that completes a divine assignment. Therefore, Ẹlẹṣin’s role as the king’s horseman is central to this idea—his ritual suicide is a covenantal act to preserve spiritual continuity between the living and the dead.

So, if viewed within the liturgy of cosmic balance, Ẹlẹṣin’s hesitation to carry out his ritual duty on time because he prioritizes sensual pleasure over his covenantal responsibilities in his last hours is a ritual violation that constitutes not merely a personal failing, but an ontological transgression. His delay creates a spiritual bottleneck, disrupting the king’s passage and halting the cycle of ancestral reincarnation. Yoruba cosmology emphasizes timeliness and order, and the delay permits external agents, specifically colonial authorities, to violate the sacred ritual. In metaphysical terms, Ẹlẹṣin’s failure is not only a breach of duty but a cosmic scandal. Since “rituals in Yoruba tradition are not merely performative acts; they are acts of renewal and cosmic alignment” (Babatunde Lawal, The Gelede Spectacle [University of Washington Press, 1996]). Ẹlẹṣin’s procrastination, thus, threatens the moral order of his community and reveals the fragile intersection between human agency and divine order.

In this instance, Ẹlẹṣin’s journey to the afterlife and the ritual suicide he must commit underscore the deep spatial understanding of ephemeral bodies and immortal souls. First, his death marks the termination of a chronos time while simultaneously depicting newness in the afterlife. This form of transitioning describes the stages of life that the Yoruba culture recognizes and celebrates. Thus, death is regarded as a temporary state in the continuum of existence, rather than a total obliteration of an individual. Second, the afterlife is conceived more meaningfully beyond its abstractness as a dimension that confers a god-like status on dead bodies. Therefore, dying is a rite of passage, without which the Yoruba concept of ancestral worship is void and meaningless. The main thrust of the suicide ritual that Ẹlẹṣin must commit demonstrates a gift exchange between mortal human beings and the immortal gods, goddesses, and ancestors. In that exchange, a living soul accompanies the dead king through Hades to the afterlife. In return, through an apotheosis, the king blesses his community in appreciation for the sacrifice they have made. Without the suicide ritual, the king is disgruntled as he journeys into the afterlife alone, thus losing his royalty, and he can cast a malevolent spell of doom on the community and its living members.

The death of Ẹlẹṣin, therefore, is vital to how the community achieves cosmic equilibrium. So, when Pilkings and Amusa interrupt the exchange, they inadvertently disrupt a sacred process in its teleological terms. Therefore, due to the disruption, the sacred umbilical cord that transmits communication between the two realms—the lifeworld and the transcendental heaven—is severed, making it impossible for living humans and the dead ancestors to exchange benevolence and supplicatory prayers. In other words, the colonial truncation of the ritual process is a sacrilege that carries significant dire consequences. The spiritual implications of the extent of the disruption are well understood by Olunde, who, despite his British elitism, commits ritual suicide in place of his father to save the community from impending doom.

The film succeeds in conveying the heavily ritualized language of death and continuity. The evocative chanting of Olohun-Iyo and the heavy drumbeats create a sense of esoteric feelings that mimic a passage through the abyss of death. It is also important to note how Biyi Bandele retains the dramaturgy of Wole Soyinka in the film by using punctuating dialogues and acting styles designed for the stage, which many people find unusual for a movie. Additionally, it references the first, second, third, and fourth stages in the Yoruban cycle of life, as well as the mythology of creation.

Furthermore, the film frames the eponymous character, Ẹlẹṣin, as a foil for the African indigenous thought process. At the same time, Pilkings and Amusa represent the problematic colonial systems that undermined the organic germination of indigenous thought systems. In contrast, however, the film presents Olunde as a symbol of hope for the survival of African cultural heritage.