Nanny Review: In This Atmospheric Horror Film, the American Dream Is the Real Monster – IndieWire

Ghosts are everywhere in Nikyatu Jusus atmospheric feature directorial debut, Nanny, though few of them look like weve come to expect from decades of horror films. Sometimes, its just a feeling, a particular twist of the wind. Sometimes, its a photograph. Sometimes, its a story. And, sometimes, just sometimes, its a whole person, gazing out from beyond, well,somewhere.From the start, there is a queasy energy to Jusus get-under-your-skin film, one made all the more unsettling to her dedication to showing a full-spectrum leading lady (your usual final girl, she isnot) caught in a surprising milieu.

Aisha (Anna Diop) is a Senegalese immigrant who has arrived in New York City with her own American Dream, though one that should really not feel so out of reach: she just wants her adorable young son Lamine, who is back in Senegal, to join her. When she gets a new job nannying for an affluent couple with a cute kid (Rose Decker), the steady paycheck seems destined to get Aisha and Lamine on the right track. But the real cost is one Aisha could never have seen coming.

Despite Aishas happiness over the new gig, something feels wrong from the start. The morning of her first day, a sleeping Aisha is plunged into a discomfiting nightmare one of many key scenes that involve water, both dreamt and real, often bolstered by a rich green and blue color palette and even waking up to realize, no, she was not actually drowning doesnt add much relief. Cinematographer Rina Yangs camera both boxes Aisha in and sets her at a far remove; when she first arrives at Amy (a chilling Michelle Monaghan) and Adams (Morgan Spector) apartment, Aisha cant shake the feeling shes being watched, and she is,as we both observe her in an elevator and through the surveillance camera tracking her. But that claustrophobia doesnt abate upon her arrival in the large apartment, with Aisha and Amy circling each other at a far distance. When they do come close to each other, its hardly comforting.

But the kid is cute and the pay is good, if only Amy could remember how much she has promised Aisha for her daily work and any special asks. (IsAmy, brittle and spacey and touchy, really so forgetful? Or is this just another one of the many micro-aggressions that Jusu skillfully piles on over the course of the film?) Monaghan is unnerving as Amy, a seemingly successful professional who falls to pieces at home, a stranger to her daughter, someone who treats her creepy husband as king of the castle while also bemoaning the current state of feminism.

Things only get worse when Adam, a photographer who seems to have a real affection for chronicling unrest, war, racism, and pain in his work, returns home. Amy and Adams marriage is clearly not working out, and while Aisha does her best to ignore it, the pair soon delight in playing their careful, smart nanny against the other. That would all be bad enough plus Aishas constant need to ask for her pay, which is often incorrect, or Adams lingering looks but as Jusu slowly turns up the tension, its obvious something far more sinister is lurking inside the walls of their cold, massive apartment. Outside, things are odd, too, as Aisha struggles to reach Lamine and keeps seeing him around town.

While Bartek Gliniak and Tanerlles score does a lot of traditional horror movie! work lots of strings, plenty of foreboding tones Jusu opts to turn her attention to the more edifying elements of Aishas life, including a budding romance with Malik, the doorman in Amy and Adams building (a charming Sinqua Walls). Its also Malik who introduces her to his clairvoyant grandmother Kathleen (Leslie Uggams), who seems to see plenty others cant (or wont). Too often, however, that includes Jusu, whose interest in showing the full range of Aishas life feels like a misdirect toward the meat of the film. (Related: Aisha and Maliks relationship might sink the films tension, but it also shows off Jusus chops as a romantic director, these two have heat and she directs it all beautifully.)

Still, Jusus desire to dig into Aisha outside the realm of whatever the hell is happening with Amy and Adam (and the many things they represent), offers Diop a multi-faceted character to play, the likes of which we dont often see in traditional horror films. As Aisha, Diop is gifted with a full meal of a role, and she easily embodies all the different Aishas we meet over the course of the film. (Jusu has said she long had her eye on the actress, best known for TV series like Titans and 24: Legacy, and like many of her impulses exhibited in the film, it was the right one.)

But which one is the real one? Which one is the ghost? Jusus script, while prone to meandering through its second act, delivers a powerful punch as the film ratchets toward its inevitable conclusion. The first-time filmmaker may be attempting to fit too many ideas into one sleek package, but that doesnt mitigate the truth of Nanny: All of it haunts.

Nanny premiered at the 2022 SundanceFilm Festival. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.

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Nanny Review: In This Atmospheric Horror Film, the American Dream Is the Real Monster - IndieWire