Say It - Candyman
Horror is easily the most challenging genre. This is doubly true when it tries to achieve high minded social commentary. It’s easy to wind up with a movie that feels like a series of vignettes stuffed between a bunch of preachy tweets. Candyman comes dangerously close to being too on the nose and crossing that line, but winds up being just restrained enough to be average. Not vapid escapism but not a message that will stick to your ribs; something in between. Most will likely walk away satisfied, but few will walk away overwhelmed.
Say his name five times and he appears in the mirror and kills you. That is the legend. Borne out of the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago, Candyman is a collective narrative the residents of the neighborhood established when a notable local figure was gunned down by the police. This chapter picks up 30 years after the original tale, which involved a photojournalist’s efforts to establish the origins and validity of the Candyman myth.
This time, we follow Anthony McCoy (played baby Yaya Abdul-Mateen II), a young visual artist who is in a rut. In search of inspiration, he ends up digging into the Candyman narrative. When the legend takes hold of him, the story takes twists and turns that impact, and ultimately end, many of the people around him.
The goals here are laudable—the surfacing and exploration of Black trauma in a format we don’t often get to see. It comes at a cost, however, and it often winds up feeling like a college essay more than a fully formed motion picture. It is a concept pulled through a set of ideas instead of the reverse. This type of storytelling peaks when it feels like a fully formed story that just happens to hold elements that that speak to our world. But when done this way, it feels like a college essay.
That said, Nia DaCosta is a gifted filmmaker of the highest order. She employs a visual language that is sure to serve her through a long career. There are elements here that are just beautiful to take in. The horror here isn’t necessarily frightening, but it is definitely artfully done. There are shadow animations that offer some of the movies exposition that feel like next level imagery. Just not sure what to make of the message. The hook just never quite sinks in deep enough.
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