Paper Life

In Paper Life, Chidera 'Chichi' Buchi runs a live stream called Chichi Couture where she drapes herself in fabrics she claims come from Milan and Istanbul. Her assistant stands beside her and tells the audience she is broke, eating okro soup instead of chicken Alfredo, and driving a car that breaks down in a modest neighbourhood. To save face Chichi invents a charity visit and a sick aunt, but a local mechanic named Kola watches her performance and calls it out. Their first meeting is sharp and contentious, and it sets a tone of banter and reluctant respect that neither of them admits they value. Chichi's roommate Amara refuses to let her float, reminding her daily of unpaid debts and borrowed wigs. Then Raymond walks in, smelling of expensive perfume and talking like a man who owns international real estate. He takes Chichi on a lavish salsa date and she believes her soft life has finally arrived. At the same time she lands a contract worth three point five million naira to sew a wedding gown for Ire Banks, the daughter of a prominent politician. Chichi knows her skills are limited and her machine is outdated, so she decides to buy a finished dress and pass it off as her own work. Raymond senses her desperation and borrows one hundred and fifty thousand naira, returning double the amount to build trust before he invents a crisis that requires four million naira to unlock an offshore investment. Chichi sends three million, draining the money she had set aside for the wedding gown. The deadline passes and the dress is not delivered, so social media turns on her and she trends as a scammer. Her friend drags her to Kola's workshop to track Raymond down, and they find him at Kola's house where the truth spills out in pieces. Raymond is Kola's mechanic client and he was playing the groom in a staged scenario. Kola confesses that the whole wedding contract was a setup because Ire is his cousin, and he engineered the opportunity to force Chichi to prove her talent.