I am at a loss for words on how to begin my review for Nanny. Before you start assuming that the movie was so good that it made me go speechless, let me tell you, it was quite the opposite. Throughout this one-and-a-half hour film, I was waiting to get scared because apparently, this film is supposed to be a psychological horror movie. Right from the beginning till the end, Nanny had me wondering whether the makers forgot to add the horror bits or have I finally become brave enough to watch horror movies without covering my eyes. Nikyatu Jusu makes her directorial feature film debut with this film.
The Plot of Nanny
Nanny tells the story of Aisha, played by Anna Diop, an African by origin, who has come to the United States to live the American dream. She has left her son, Lamine, behind in Senegal with a cousin, and she is working hard to gather money to bring him to her.
Aisha is hired as a nanny for Rose who is raised in a privileged American family. Rose’s mother, Amy, played by Michelle Monaghan, works day and night to fulfil her dreams, and earn her seat at the table in the boys club. While her husband Adam, played by Morgan Spector, travels a lot because of work.
Aisha teaches French to Rose, who quickly gets attached to her and listens to her more than she does to her own mother. But being a woman of colour and working for a racist American family is obviously not easy for Aisha. Amy forgets to pay her overtime and even for all the times she had to stay over.
Right from the beginning of the story, you can sense a gloom wrapped like a thick blanket around the characters. But it is quite unfortunate that the backstory of that gloom is not told. I just had to assume that all the characters were sad from the start for some reason.
As Aisha continues with her job, she feels haunted by elements of water. She dreams of getting drowned as well. She even begins day-dreaming where she sees her son standing all alone with his back to her. Aisha’s dreams always panic her, and she calls her cousin to know if Lamine is okay or not.
Aisha also begins disliking Amy because the latter has been neglecting her and taking her service for granted. But she cannot leave the job either because she needs the money. In this chaos, she finds a guy called Malik with whom she gets romantically involved as well.
There is an intimate scene in the film that is shown through the female gaze. It is very evident that Aisha is in charge of the pleasure and she knows what she wants. The scene is nothing too explicit but the intention behind showing Aisha taking the lead shows she is a decisive person and is well aware of the consequences of her actions.
The plot of the story sheds light on African folklore. There is mention of Mami Wata, a mermaid-like looking mythical creature who appears in Aisha’s dreams and she takes it as a warning sign that something bad is going to happen to her son. As the story unfolds, the plot gets repetitive with her getting the same dreams and visions, her worrying about her son, her not getting paid enough and not being able to do anything about it, and just her stuck in this constant cycle.
The Cast And Characters
Anna Diop plays Aisha with a sense of completeness. Like she knows Aisha personally. The fear of losing her son is clearly written on her face every time she dreams about him. Toward the end, she also confronts Amy about the times she was not paid and takes a stand for herself, which is the only thing I appreciate about her. But I could not connect with the problems she was facing. Anna’s performance did not make me feel emphatic towards her. There was no depth in her character either. Aisha felt like she was just… there.
Michelle Monaghan portrays Amy with much conviction but it was not enough. With her hardly being there for Rose, her audacity to get annoyed at Aisha for feeding Rose Senegalese food who was at least feeding her is not aggressive enough. She pulls the power dynamic card several times which proves she does not like to be messed with. But this aspect of her personality was not convincingly played by her.
I wish there was more chemistry between the characters. With Anna and Michelle being the lead actors in this film, they failed to make an impact even after being in the same frame. None of the characters held my attention. I was watching this movie at midnight, hoping that the horror would jolt me awake but rather it made me all the more sleepy. For a horror movie, the plot felt way too calm and serene. In fact, it felt like a normal dramatic film about a black woman’s struggle in the US.
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The plot of the film was very disconnected. Even after the film ended, I was left wondering ‘what was the point of this whole movie?’ Where did all the horror go? Or did I blink and miss it? Given the high amount of praise this movie is getting from other portals, I felt this one was a total meh! Also, I am surprised how the makers did not deem it necessary to explain the so-called horror elements. If you are bringing in folklore from a different country, might as well explain the concept and story behind it!
Verdict
This movie was a no-go for me. I regret watching it and feel betrayed because there was ZERO horror in it. I would much rather watch Behind Her Eyes to get the proper feels of a psychological horror.