When looking at the trailers for “The Man in My Basement,” one might assume they are getting into a horror movie of sorts. If there is one thing you take from this review, take this: it is not scary, it will not live up to the trailer, but it is still worth a watch if you find the trailer interesting. It is a complicated movie that is nonetheless watchable.
“The Man in My Basement” directed by Nadia Latif and based on the book by the same name written by Walter Mosley is, yes, about a man living in another man’s basement. Charles Blakey played by Corey Hawkins is a jobless African American man living in Sag Harbor, New York, which is a historically Black community. Just when Charles finds himself at a point where his house might be taken away, Anniston Bennet, played by William Dafoe, knocks on his door wanting to rent his basement.
Meanwhile, Narciss Gully, played by Anna Diop, is brought over to look at Charles’s family heirlooms, as his mom recently passed away. She discovers ancient West African masks, which have belonged in his family for generations and play a role in the plot. Charles eventually finds out he is getting foreclosed on, leading him to call Mr. Bennet, who offers him $65,000 to rent the basement. And of course, as you could guess Charles accepts this deal.
What follows is a series of events so strange and loosely connected that if I wrote them out, I would ruin the next hour or so left of the movie. It is best to come into this movie blind with only the bits of information I have shared with you so far.
Regarding the characters, Dafoe and Hawkins’s performances truly are the pillars holding this movie up. The two men are clearly meant to be parallels of each other, a point that the movie essentially spells out for you. The atmosphere is very enjoyable with shots of the beach and the small town being particularly nice to look at. The movie explores themes of isolation, with both men keeping others away from them and largely keeping to themselves. Other ideas explored, such as race and heritage, play important roles, especially with the setting.
Some ideas, though, do not work. The masks which I mentioned earlier feel very disconnected from the main plot, almost like they were stapled on rather than being woven in. The attempt to juggle these multiple ideas and themes largely fails.
Dafoe is clearly the main draw for most people going to see this movie and partly why I chose it. As always, he delivers a brilliant performance, which is deep and thought provoking. Largely, the film is about ideas and questions. That is almost the entire point of it, which I enjoyed. But not all questions should be answered, as Dafoe says at the end of the film.
Overall, I was disappointed by “The Man in My Basement” mainly because I wanted a horror film and got a drama with some thriller elements. I hope that you do watch this movie on Hulu and if you are not expecting a horror movie, you might like it better. I would give it a 6.7/10.