“Clarissa” is praised as a definitive film adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs Dalloway”, relocating its themes of love, loss, memory and desire to Nigeria after the 2009 Boko Haram conflict. Directors Arie and Chuko Esiri retain Woolf’s impressionistic, stream-of-consciousness approach while grounding the story in a specific national history, arguing that the novel needed sensitive reinterpretation rather than deconstruction.

The film follows an older Clarissa, played by Sophie Okonedo, as preparations for a party bring her back together with former friends, reviving memories of their youth and wartime experiences. The review particularly commends Okonedo, Ayo Edebiri and David Oyelowo, alongside the younger cast, for creating convincing emotional continuity; it also highlights the film’s painterly visuals, nuanced characterisation and balance between empathy and criticism.