Spooky season might be over for you, but for me, it’s a lifestyle. I’m only half-joking when I say that! This Halloween was a bit of a bust for me.
With so many activities being canceled or sold out, I thought about what I could do with my BFF Jenny. We decided to go to a mission (if you’re from California, you might be getting 4th-grade flashbacks after reading that!).
We thought it was the closest thing to a haunted place we could get. However, the missions are apparently closed due to COVID and we had no idea!
Anyways, we ended up doing some non-spooky related activities after that. So when I got home later that night, I decided I had to watch a scary movie to end Halloween.
That is when I saw “His House” (released on October 30th) under Netflix’s top 10. Intrigued by the description, I decided to watch it for myself.
Warning: spoilers ahead.
At first glance, “His House, directed by Remi Weekes, is your classic haunted house story. A young couple in need of a fresh start moves into a brand new home on the outskirts of London. Simple, yes.
However, this couple, Bol (Sope Dirisu) and Rial (Wunmi Mosaku), are refugees from war-torn Sudan. They survive the treacherous journey to the UK, but their daughter does not. They are given asylum and they move into a large dilapidated home provided for them by the government.
Although this should be a new beginning for them, it’s clear this house represents their trauma and state of mind. Almost immediately, unexplained things begin to happen.
Both Bol and Rial see and hear frightening noises and apparitions, all while dealing with being immigrants in a new country.
While Bol wants to assimilate and forget his past, Rial does the opposite. As she explains, they’re being haunted by a witch and have to repay that witch back. What this means, is not entirely clear at first.
In my experience, most scary movies build tension as you go, In “His House”, it’s there as soon as the film starts. There’s tension between Bol and Rial, their new home, and tension between them and white authoritative figures.
Adding to this are classic scary movie tactics; jump scares, the manipulation of light, use of shadows, Etc. These scares are not overdone; I was taken aback at many points of the movie and had full-body chills.
You soon realize that perhaps it’s Bol and Rial that is haunted and not their home and we later learn why.
In dream sequences and flashbacks, we see that Bol and Rial were able to escape Sudan because they got on a bus with their daughter (the bus was only allowing parents and children to get on). However, their “daughter” is a random girl Bol takes from the crowd in a desperate attempt to get on the bus to safety.
While Bol, Rial, and this girl flee on a raft to the UK, she drowns. The truth always comes out and it’s not pretty. I will not spoil the rest of the movie but I will say that both Bol and Rial are left to confront their past and repaying the witch I spoke of above.
“His House” takes a tale as old as time and interwinds with the refugee and immigrant experience. Bol and Rial have trauma from what they saw and endured in Sudan yes, but also from surviving it and making it out.
And while this movie is literally about a haunted house, it has to do more with the human psyche. We also get insight into the treatment of refugees which you can imagine, is not good.
At various points in the film, they are told to just deal with it. “It” being their house and circumstances. Because hey, their house and life might be shit but at least they're alive…
If you are a fan of“The Babadook”, another scary movie that is inherently about grief and depression, you’ll be a fan of “His House”.
There are many things I didn’t mention but I will say that there is a lot that goes into the film. Besides trauma and survivors’ guilt, there are also undertones of colonialism as well.
The reality most scary movies, especially “his house” teaches us is this: ghosts and haunted houses are not scary, the things other humans do to each other are.
If you want to watch something that is not just cheap thrills, “His House” is it. Although there were many times that were slow and even hard to watch, I still give this movie a 7/10.
Thanks for reading and see you next week!
XOXO
-Leslie V
