X
- 2022
- R
- Amazon Studios
- 1 h 39 m
- 2022
- R
- Amazon Studios
- 1 h 39 m
Summary Aisha (Anna Diop), a woman who recently emigrated from Senegal, is hired to care for the daughter of an affluent couple (Michelle Monaghan and Morgan Spector) living in New York City. Haunted by the absence of the young son she left behind, Aisha hopes her new job will afford her the chance to bring him to the U.S., but becomes increasin...
Directed By: Nikyatu Jusu
- 2022
- R
- Amazon Studios
- 1 h 39 m
- 2022
- R
- Amazon Studios
- 1 h 39 m
Nanny
72
4.9
Where to Watch
Summary Aisha (Anna Diop), a woman who recently emigrated from Senegal, is hired to care for the daughter of an affluent couple (Michelle Monaghan and Morgan Spector) living in New York City. Haunted by the absence of the young son she left behind, Aisha hopes her new job will afford her the chance to bring him to the U.S., but becomes increasin...
Directed By: Nikyatu Jusu
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 30 Critic Reviews
72
90% Positive
27 Reviews
27 Reviews
10% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 30 Critic Reviews
72
90% Positive
27 Reviews
27 Reviews
10% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
It’s not a film that seeks to freak you out with jump scare after jump scare, but rather a film that wants to burrow down into your heart and fester, seeping into your room like a slow trickle of water.
Her feature debut nods to Ousmane Sembène’s seminal Black Girl while distilling the trials her parents, immigrants from Sierra Leone, endured as Jusu grew up in Atlanta—a mix of domestic drama and frightening images to make us fellow outsiders in a suffocatingly insular world.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 20 User Ratings
4.9
40% Positive
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
30% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
30% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 20 User Ratings
4.9
40% Positive
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
30% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
30% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
From the horror genre, the plot appeals for fear of the invisible and, above all, the appeal of folklore. That is what makes it understandable, because here there are no generic scares or blood spatters. It is not exactly to see it twice but you have to give it the opportunity.
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I was skeptical because of NANNY's user reviews but I should have seen it coming: This film is really good! Beautiful, moody, heartfelt, romantic, creepy, uncomfortable, and devastating. Jusu brings in a fresh perspective, deconstructing (or, truly, confirm the reality of) the American Dream, like it has been done by many (white/American/white immigrant) men before. The look on the patriarchy through the lens of a mother reminded me of ROSEMARY'S BABY (maybe because I've seen it just recently), but what Polanski (and all men) couldn't bring to his film is the emotional understanding of what it means actually being a mother (I'm a white male, too, so I'm not pretending to be an expert here). I quite liked the mirror motive and the - in my opinion - devastating meaning of water. I didn't get the full meaning of those Senegalese creatures, and I thought that Jusu crammed a bit much in her film, especially towards the last couple minutes. All that being said, NANNY is definitely worth a watch and you will think about it for quite some time. Most of the horror in this film comes from casual remarks by Aisha. Not quite a spooky Halloween film, yes, but an important, well constructed, and sometimes creepy **** of hopes and dreams.
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It swings with aplomb from moments of tenderness and lightness to tragedy and cruelty.
Jusu paints a rich portrait of Aisha’s life as an undocumented Senegalese immigrant and nanny under the thumb of a wealthy white family, but the horror elements meant to visualize her internal struggles never quite cohere.
This touching film will undoubtedly make you sympathize with its protagonist, wonderfully interpreted with gentle poise and nuance by Diop.
While its horror elements and overall structure lack gratification, it's the woman at its center and the submergence into her spirit that make it a poignant, wonderfully personal character study.
Nanny, as a whole, packs a rather toothless punch. It feels loosely assembled – chock-full of original ideas, intriguing imagery and plot devices, many of which either oddly wind up as loose ends or get resolved in a hurry.
Longe de desmerecer o tema sobre opressão racista, especialmente em cima de mulheres negras, mais ainda quando esta mulher é uma empregada doméstica. Mas o filme já se mostra degastado, mostrando o cotidiano ali em suas mais belas minúcias, ela cuidando da filha da patroa, problemas quanto as horas extras, juntando dinheiro com certo sofrimento para trazer o filho. E é isso.
Ou seja, temos aqui um legítimo feijão com arroz com um tema importante, narrado de forma banal, sem uma grande história, tudo ocorrendo da forma que tem de ocorrer, sem inspiração alguma. Mesmo as atuações estão certinhas e enquadradas, mas nada viceral, até porque o roteiro opta por ser cru, sem nada elevado mesmo, o que eu achei até uma decisão acertada, não se torna um dramalhão, ao mesmo tempo que não torna a obra memorável. Eu diria apenas que é um bom passatempo, e por tocar em temas sensíveis como racismo e relações de trabalho, vale a conferida, ainda que despretenciosa.
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'Nanny' suffers from the ever-present problem of not knowing what it wants to be. As an immigration drama, the conflict is clear — an African nanny that wants to bring his son from Senegal to live with her — but the need to tackle another genre distracts you from it; as a horror film, the supernatural elements feel somewhat random. Yes, African folklore plays a part in it, but its relationship with the protagonist is never clear beyond the obvious. First-time director Nikyatu Jusu also touches on how white people exoticize black culture — as in 'Get Out — and that, for me, is the most appealing part of the movie, but the theme is quickly forgotten. Fortunately, Anna Diop, as the nanny, makes you care about Aisha and her struggle. If only the script had been better.
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Nanny is a slow-burning drama/thriller that uses a fairly slow pace that seeks in every way possible to be sinister and ominous to build to a climax that you can see coming miles before the script addresses it, and that, at that point, the film seems to forget where it was going in the first instance because the ending doesn't feel at all resolving and you have to wonder, given the tragedy, what the **** was the plot making the character experience? Loss? Preparation to deal with grief? Fear?
Honestly, I was left a little confused, or maybe my understanding of its narrative came across very differently to me.
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This film is all over the place. Lacking character development and finished plot lines.
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When it comes to making a movie (especially one in the suspense, thriller or horror genre), there’s a big difference between “nuanced” and “obscure.” And, when it comes to writer-director Nikyatu Jusu’s debut feature, it’s an offering that more often embodies the latter than the former. This tale of a Senegalese immigrant nanny caring for the young daughter of an upscale New York couple follows her pursuit of starting a new life in America, a venture intruded upon by an array of strange, sporadic, inexplicable, underdeveloped hallucinations, nightmares and other paranormal experiences in what amounts to one of the most unsuspenseful thrillers I’ve ever screened. Indeed, this film’s attempt to elevate what’s supposed to be a horror offering to a purported higher level of artistry and sophistication largely falls flat due to glacial pacing, disjointed and extraneous story threads, overly subdued and unexplained imagery, and a largely predictable, underwhelming payoff that just doesn’t merit the time and attention it requires to make sense of it all. While the picture features some imaginative cinematography and editing, along with a capable lead performance by Anna Diop, it’s nevertheless sorely lacking when it comes to a compelling narrative and cogently written script. Despite its Independent Spirit Award nomination for the Someone To Watch Award and its National Board of Review designation as one of 2022’s Top 10 Independent Films, “Nanny” fails on countless fronts. But I suppose that shouldn’t come as any surprise these days given the unremarkable state of this once-venerated film genre. Horror films just ain’t what they used to be, and this one again proves just that.
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Awards
Black Reel Awards
• 1 Win & 8 Nominations
Palm Springs International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Black Film Critics Circle Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
