Welcome to yet another segment (because Juice Demon has a segment-creating addiction) of paranormal horror movie appreciation. This time I’m watching a horror flick for the first time and attempting a thorough and honest review. Today’s pick is the 2020 thriller His House, the directorial debut of British screenwriter Remi Weekes.  

His House is intense from its subject matter to its execution. It demands to be felt. The story follows a refugee couple from South Sudan, who are adjusting with fragile hope to their potential new life in Britain after a harrowing and traumatic journey from their war-torn home.

Rial—played by Wunmi Mosaku—is hesitant to embrace their new home as it invites the weight of prejudice and lacks the comforts of her culture, while Bol—played by Sope Dirisu—is desperately clinging to the romantic notions of a new and better life (separate from the horrific tragedy they left behind in South Sudan). As they both attempt to acclimate to their environment with varying degrees of enthusiasm, they are visited separately by a sinister presence lurking in their assigned asylum residence.

Let’s Dive In, Shall We? 

First, the cinematography of this movie is absolutely breathtaking. It’s a visual delight from start to finish—even in the spookier scenes where “delight” is the furthest emotion on the spectrum.

Each shot is so beautifully crafted, every colour scheme so dreamily captivating, that I had to force myself to feel the tense grip of fear the scenes intended. This is not to say that the film doesn’t deliver some genuine and original scary moments, because it does.

Though many of the scares in His House are predictable (in the sense that if you’ve watched a good deal of haunted house movies, you won’t be overly shocked by them), there are a few standouts that I appreciated. Weekes makes great use of space in his shots, as well as some nail-biting moments enhanced entirely by the clever use of lighting. Never has a movie evoked such a visceral sense of being swallowed whole by darkness—a feeling I won’t soon forget.

The storytelling is phenomenal. Weekes expertly charts his narrative path; the plot progresses patiently and with purpose. Not a single shot or tremulous moment of quiet emotion goes unappreciated. As the climax rears its monstrous head, there isn’t one second of it that feels unearned.  

The horror lore of His House brings its own fascinations. The evil in Bol and Rial’s house is given a name, in fact, Rial recognizes its origins nearly immediately (something that feels fresh in the moment, diverging from the typical “what the fuck is happening in our house” reactiveness of most horror movie protagonists).

Bol and Rial are being haunted by an apeth, or “night witch”. It’s an impressive foe that seems to feed on the sins of those it follows, wreaking psychological havoc (Juice Demon is hyperfixating on Cerebral Killers, this is now an indisputable fact) and maintaining a persistent and dreadful objective.

Defining Characteristics 

What makes His House a standout is its delicate handling of the real-life subject of the South Sudan refugee crisis, and the incredibly poignant portrayals of that experience by the film’s two stellar leads.

Mosaku and Dirisu are mesmerizing, both in their individual characterizations and their effortless dynamic. If I could time travel to the 93rd Academy Awards to personally hand them Best Actor and Best Actress, I would do so in a heartbeat. I can’t emphasize enough how enthralled I was with their combined screen presence. The raw and breathless vigor with which they embrace their roles is magnetic, and only intensifies as their characters’ stories unfold.

All these pieces come together seamlessly to pull off a heart-wrenching and devastating plot twist that not only fits perfectly into the established narrative, but had me pouring over its implications in my mind for hours in painstaking detail. If I had seen His House in theatres, I would have all but pounced at the opportunity to pester whoever joined me with questions meant to poke holes in the black-and-white fixtures of humanity.

Those post-watch moments—wherein I’m fit to burst with analytic energy and vibrating with speculative theories—are the ones that cement the viewing experience into my memory. If a movie can inspire that, it’s already established itself in my mind as a new favourite.

If it wasn’t clear already, His House gets a rating of six skulls.

Would I recommend this movie? Vehemently and with razzle dazzle. Would I watch more movies directed by Weekes and starring Mosaku and Dirisu? Without question and with reverence. Will I ever stop obsessing over guilt-grief monster metaphors in paranormal horror films? Odds are: the odds are bad.

If you want to see more of Ghost Writers and their resident fiend of cinematic mayhem, Juice Demon, follow us on social media! Stay tuned for the next ghostly chapter, if you dare…

Juice Demon

Juice Demon is a harbinger of chaos from a dark dimension. She daylights as a student in the Professional Writing Program at Algonquin College. She is an enthusiast of carefully curated horror movie marathons, bonfire cracklings, and imagining the alternate universe in which Willem Dafoe is cast as The Joker.