Esiri Twins Reimagine Woolf's Mrs Dalloway in Lagos

Nigerian filmmaking twins Chuko and Arie Esiri have adapted Virginia Woolf's modernist classic Mrs Dalloway into a new film titled Clarissa, which premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival as part of the Directors' Fortnight strand. The film transposes the story from 1920s London to contemporary Lagos, with the Muslim call to prayer replacing Big Ben's chimes and Nigeria's conflict with Boko Haram standing in for World War I. The cast includes Sophie Okonedo as Clarissa, David Oyelowo as Peter, Jude Akuwudike as Richard, Fortune Nwafor as Septimus, India Amarteifio as young Clarissa, Toheeb Jimoh as young Peter, Ayo Edebiri as Sally, and Nikki Amuka-Bird as older Sally. The Esiris, born in Warri and raised in Lagos, attended private schools in England and studied film in New York. They aimed to capture Woolf's stream-of-consciousness style through visual references to Antonioni and Fellini, using honeyed tones for flashbacks and cooler hues for the present. The screenplay, written by Chuko, explores postcolonial themes, including the lingering mental colonization of Nigeria after independence in 1960. The film's cast largely consists of members of the Nigerian diaspora.