Candyman (2021)- BEE-yond Scary
Candyman (2021) was directed by Nia DaCosta and stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Anthony, an artist who is struggling to find an inspiration for his work. After hearing a story about Candyman, he decides to visit the location of where these events happened. After saying his name in the mirror five times, he is followed by the myth himself. I am gonna start off by saying that you will either love or hate this film. I was engaged the entire time. This is more of a character piece than a horror film, but I respect the way they handled the source material. The film had a lot of important plot points that are relevant in todays society. I also really respect how they handled the Candyman himself. He isn't in full "slasher mode" in the film and I believe that this is what made him scarier. The kills in the film are done differently throughout. It started off showing the violence, but as everyone started to become aware of him, he performs these acts of violence in interesting ways. From seeing these acts from a distance in an apartment building, to it unfolding through the lens of a compact makeup mirror, I adored how these situations were handled. This leads into my next point. I thought that this was the best camera work done this year so far. Every angle felt like it had purpose and meaning. This lead to a lot of tension based solely off of camera work, which I thought was insanely impressive. I also want to give a big round of applause to Yahya Abdul-Mateen II for giving an inspired performance in the film. His strong acting choices made his decent into madness one of the best performances of the year. That being said, there are some negatives to the film. I did not really care for how they ended the movie. It felt abrut and took me out of the moment. There were also some instances of drag during the middle as well. All in all, I really enjoyed Candyman and I hope that his story continues in future installments.
My Rating- 8/10
Rated- R
Rotten Tomatoes- 86%