Director: Remi Weekes
Writer: Felicity Evans, Roby Venables, Remi Weekes (Screenplay)
Starring: Sope Dirisu (Mr Malcolm’s List), Wunmi Mosaku, Malaika Wakoli-Abigaba, Javier Botet, Matt Smith
Plot: A refugee couple makes a harrowing escape from war-torn South Sudan, but then they struggle to adjust to their new life in an English town that has an evil lurking beneath the surface.
Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: His House starts as we see the harrowing escape from South Sudan by Bol (Birisu) and Rial (Mosaku) who lost a daughter along the way, now in England they are being removed from the detention centre and placed into a home in an estate in London.
As the pair try to adjust to the new life in London, they find the nights filled with a horror inside the home, has the witch followed them to England or is this a new sinister presence haunting them or just the trauma of their escape from South Sudan.
Thoughts on His House
Characters – Bol is still suffering from what happened in his escape from South Sudan, he is trying to put together a normal life in England, going through the system, wanting to keep his head down. He starts seeing things around the new home, but he wants to fight it because he knows what it will mean to leave this home. Rial has come with Bol from South Sudan with her own traumatic past, they stick together through the troubles of trying to start a new life, she isn’t afraid of what might be in the house, because she has seen worse before. We do get to see the social workers that are trying to keep things together for the couple, seeing they are good, even if they are struggling with things.
Performances – Sope Dirisu is brilliant in the leading role, showing us the horrors of what he experienced with the horrors that a new life could bring him. Wunmi Mosaku is great too, with the leads doing an excellent job through the film.
Story – The story here follows two refugees from South Sudan looking to start a new life in England, but they start to believe a witch has followed them and wants something from them. This is a new twist on the haunted house, by first having the targets knowing they simply can’t leave, knowing what will happen if they don’t stay there, secondly having a mystery about what happened on their escape in the first place and third playing into the culture where they know what is haunting them and know what it means. This all adds up to more intense story that is filled with emotion and desperation.
Horror – The horror in the film comes from the haunting visits that Bol goes through, seeing just what he is going through and went through.
Settings – The film is unique with the setting because we are in a haunted house in a council estate, but easily escaping us to what the two could have once lived in.
Scene of the Movie – Dinner on the river.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – No one seems to notice the noise being made.
Final Thoughts – His House is a unique haunted house movie that shows us the desperation for a new life against the cultural horrors that could follow people, with excellent performance from Sope Dirisu and Wunmi Mosaku.
