Nikyatu Jusu’s Nanny is a chilling horror story about immigrant mothers and sacrifice
By Tom Soares
An outstanding horror film with incomparable storytelling and mesmerizing cinematography. This year’s winner of the U.S dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, Nanny, directed by Sierra Leonean-American filmmaker Nikyatu Jusu, not only debuted on a mighty and positive note, but it’s also a beauty to behold.
Starring Anna Diop (Us) as Aisha, a Senegalese young mother who’s hired by a wealthy New York City couple to care for their little daughter, Nanny is a powerful and never told enough story of love and painful sacrifice, too familiar to immigrant women who move to this country in search of the American dream.
However, not long after starting on the new job, Aisha begins to experience frightening, reality bending visions that forces her to question her state of mind and threaten to destroy everything she’s working towards.
For those not versed on the beautiful and acute filmmaking style of director Nikyatu Jusu, Nanny is certain to be a pleasant surprise. Nevertheless, Jusu has been speedily climbing the Hollywood ladder to become one of the most recognized names in the horror genre.
Jusu’s 2016 Flowers, about two teenage girls seeking revenge on teacher, received the Short Film Award at the American Black Film Festival, while her Sundance Film Festival debuted short Suicide by Sunlight, a terrifying story about an oncology nurse with a dark secret, won the 2019 Short Film Grand Jury Prize.
Jusu’s striking cinematography, use of color and very distinct usage of African culture and folklore on her storytelling sets her work apart from almost every horror film that has been released in the past decade.
Additionally, one of Jusu’s greatest accomplishments throughout the movie was creating an ever-escalating sense of apprehension that goes beyond the employment of any supernatural element to her story, but it’s also rooted on Aisha’s human relationships, such as with her son Lamine (Jahleel Kamara), a smart little boy she was forced to temporarily leave behind in Senegal with a cousin; with her white bosses Amy (Michelle Monaghan) and Adam (Morgan Spector), a rich but emotionally unstable and detached couple; their daughter Rose (Rose Decker); and with Aisha’s romantic interest, Malik (Sinqua Walls) a Black single-father who works as a security guard in the apartment building where she works, and his kind and mysterious grandma, Kathleen (Leslie Uggams).
Nanny also brings a solid career defining performance by Anna Diop, a Senegalese actor better known for her role as the superhero Starfire on HBO and DC Comics series Titans. Diop, who moved to New York to pursue acting and modeling aspirations, has had recurring roles on the Emmy and Golden Globes nominated comedy Everybody Hates Chris, created by Chris Rock and starring Tyler James Williams, and as a main character on the short lived 24: Legacy.
On the big screen, Diop had a small but poignant role on Jordan Peele’s 2019 acclaimed horror film Us, as Rayne Thomas/Eartha, mother to Lupita Nyong’o’s character. Now on Nanny, Diop radiates poise and confidence on screen as she breathes life into a character that is as multilayered as the conflicts she experiences.
Nanny is at its core an impressive and superlative horror story centered on the love and sacrifice of immigrant marginalized mothers, directed by one of the most important up-and-coming names in the supernatural genre.
Although yet to be picked up for distribution (by the time this review is being written), Nikyatu Jusu’s Nanny is a certain frontrunner on the upcoming 2022-2023 award season, with great chances to receive nominations and awards for its cinematography and production design, as well as original screenplay and acting.
Nanny has still to receive a release date.