Synopsis

Free Admission! With an introduction by and conversation with Jasmine Moore (PhD candidate, English, UCR) and Keith Harris (English, UCR).

For as long as residents can remember, the housing projects of Chicago’s Cabrini-Green neighborhood were terrorized by a word-of-mouth ghost story about a supernatural killer with a hook for a hand, easily summoned by those daring to repeat his name five times into a mirror. In present day, a decade after the last of the Cabrini towers were torn down, visual artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II; HBO’s Watchmen, Us) and his partner, gallery director Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris; If Beale Street Could Talk, The Photograph), move into a luxury loft condo in Cabrini, now gentrified beyond recognition and inhabited by upwardly mobile millennials. With Anthony’s painting career on the brink of stalling, a chance encounter with a Cabrini-Green old-timer (Colman Domingo; HBO’s Euphoria, Assassination Nation) exposes Anthony to the tragically horrific nature of the true story behind Candyman. Anxious to maintain his status in the Chicago art world, Anthony begins to explore these macabre details in his studio as fresh grist for paintings, unknowingly opening a door to a complex past that unravels his own sanity and unleashes a terrifying wave of violence that puts him on a collision course with destiny.

This film is part of the series SPOOKS: A Black Horror Film Series brought to you by Scary Black Folks, organized by Dr. Courtney R. Baker (UCR, English) and John Jennings (UCR, Media and Cultural Studies). This screening is sponsored by UCR’s College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Science (CHASS) Dean’s Office and the Center for Ideas and Society.

Trailer

Film Details

Director: Nia DaCosta
Studio: Monkeypaw Productions
Running Time: 91 minutes
Country: USA
Release Year: 2021
Rated: R

Reviews

“The scares are off the charts, but only as a means to confront the film’s heavy messaging about racial injustice. Dynamite star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and director Nia DaCosta make you think hard about everything you see. Welcome to a new horror classic.” – Peter Travers, ABC News