Summary
An undocumented Senegalese immigrant, played by Anna Diop, works hard to try and bring her young son to the US, but all the while something seems amiss.
I will say quite upfront this is not a horror film, there are vague supernatural elements that really never amount to much at all, but this is in fact a drama film concerned with notions of trauma and mental health rather than anything else. As such if you go in expecting scares, as I did, you will be disappointed as this film isn’t scary but is instead manically depressing.
I enjoyed the film for what it did with time, often moving around and back and forth between things without any notice to the audience, and also for the use of African themes and mythologies in its horror, often the genre gets very bogged down with western Christian themes and monsters and it is nice to see something else for a change.
I also thought the performances were strong across the board with Diop and Michelle Monaghan being particularly fantastic, both convey the darker aspects of motherhood well and bring a wide emotional range to their respective performances.
Overall, strong performances and fresh mythology clash against a deeply predictable twist and a lack of scares.
2.5/5
Pros.
Diop and Monaghan
The focus on African mythology
It tries to do something fresh
Cons.
The twist is incredibly obvious
It is depressing
There are no scares
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Another Millennial Reviewer 