The oldest and most potent horror stories come tied up with power: vampires in castles and victims seen as socially disposable. So it proves once more with Nanny, the shivery feature debut of director Nikyatu Jusu. Yet the movie unfolds in vibrant sun-brightness, the screen filled with the hopeful smile of the capable Aisha (Anna Diop), a migrant to New York from Senegal. Good news sets the film in motion. A foothold in the US has been secured: a job looking after the young daughter of an artsy professional couple in a sleek building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
If you flashed back to Rosemary’s Baby, you may be on to something; the name of the child happens to be Rose. Another touchstone might be Black Girl, Ousmane Sembène’s 1966 drama in which a young Senegalese woman toils in domestic service on the Côte d’Azur. But the flavour of Nanny is all Jusu’s own. Unease builds in a slow, sparing drip, even as the film plays out amid the seemingly everyday, space made for a careful back-story and sweet new relationship.
Where are the scares? One answer is that they are always creeping into the story from the edge of the frame. Another is that the real horror lies in plain sight: in the compromises forced on Aisha and the monstrosities of her employers. The last act doesn’t quite live up to the status of future classic that the best of the movie promises, but still: Jusu is a serious talent with a sharp eye for things gone wrong.
★★★★☆
On Amazon Prime Video from December 16
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