It is very, very hard to make a horror film that balances originality, immersion, genuine terror and a compelling message. His House, from first-time director Remi Weekes, is not a perfect movie, but it pulls off this balance while offering the genre an entirely new vision. The film follows a Sudanese husband and wife who seek asylum in London. Right there we begin with a modern, relevant, and provocative premise. The immigrant couple struggles to navigate this new world while also contending with a sinister force haunting their new home. The atmospheres are effective and there is an absolutely brilliant layer of meaning to the entire film, which we won’t go into here but delivers an ending that will generate plenty of thoughtful discussion. This is also one of the first movies I’ve seen in a long time that surprised me with a plot twist! Like I said, making good horror is not easy, and Weekes deserves plenty of praise.
Horror is all about placing characters in tense, dangerous, unpredictable situations, and often this is done by planting them in an unfamiliar environment. This “fish out of water” motif is well-trodden: think of classics like Evil Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Wicker Man, or the more recent Get Out and Midsommar. Part of the horror is being in a new place where the characters don’t know what to expect. Now transfer that motif to a loaded and important contemporary topic like immigration, especially refugee immigration, and you hit upon a truly original and highly sympathetic premise. But don’t misunderstand me: this is not a ‘political’ film, per se. It’s simply a human film. It’s about the obstacles we never expected, the choices we make, and the baggage we carry with us, forever.
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