Most of the interactions we see between Jasmine and the white people on campus don’t automatically make us think she’ll be knifed to death in a dorm shower, as that early remark suggests. “We got a live one!” the counselor squeals as she approaches with her clipboard. Jasmine Moore, played by Zoe Renee, is a new student whose presence on the frigid, unwelcoming grounds of Ancaster College is immediately met with trouble when she’s greeted by a white freshman counselor. The 90-minute film follows the parallel narratives of two Black women at a prestigious, primarily white New England college where they’re both physically and emotionally haunted-not just by apparitions and witches, but feelings of isolation and the burden of representation. Diallo’s film proves this point, as she pushes ideas of race, gender, colorism, representation, and exceptionalism to fresher, more interesting places and illustrates these grim realities onscreen in a way that feels less accessible or even appealing to white viewers.
And considering how many Black horror filmmakers are waiting to be given mainstream opportunities, it feels too early to cement his offerings as a lone benchmark. Even discussing the film in proximity to Peele’s directorial debut (which I’ve become less impressed with over time) feels slightly reductive, given that the comedian-turned-auteur didn’t invent the genre. Mariama Diallo’s first feature stands out as one of the most intellectually ambitious contributions to the post- Get Out Black-horror canon yet. That’s why the advent of a film like Master, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and arrives Friday on Prime Video, feels so exciting. Whether it’s television shows like the unflinching Them and the ham-fisted Lovecraft Country, poorly conceived films such as Antebellum and Bad Hair, or the undercooked 2021 reboot of Candyman, this onslaught of new material hasn’t exactly lived up to the ample possibilities that horror noir has to offer.
But so far, Hollywood’s embrace of similar projects hasn’t produced tremendous results. In the years following Jordan Peele’s breakout hit Get Out, horror films and programs starring and made by Black people have become less of a novelty and more of a box office and streaming staple, given the critical and financial success of the 2017 Oscar-winning flick.
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