This 2020 movie directed by Remi Weekes kicks off with optics that would lead one to think that you are about to watch a different version of Hotel Rwanda, but before long, the movie goes on a very sinister roller-coaster that introduces the viewer into dark magic. Although the movie had actors I had never recognized from any movie, it was engaging enough to keep me engaged to the very end.

The story centers around a couple who flee ethnic violence in Sudan to seek asylum in the United Kingdom. It covers a very dramatic and bizarre process as the couple tries to settle into their new lives. The couple Bol (Sope Dirisu) and Rial (Wunmi Masoku) are moved from detention to a house with more room than they may need but strange events begin to occur not too long after they move in.

The viewer would quickly believe that this is just another haunted house story, but this story, written by Felicity Evans, builds a theme that purports that it could have been any house because whatever they were experiencing followed them from their home country. It may take the patient viewer a little time to get there, but for people who like dark, creepy and sinister television (Like me) it probably is worth the wait.

The effects used looked no way like anything 3rd rate, coupled with the music, of which the intermittent interjection of silence helped heighten the suspense-filled journey. This was one of those ghost-in-the-house movies that actually came to the table with a twist that appears to pitch the couple against each other. Don’t want to spoil it for you but I have to appreciate story-telling that convinces or gives justification for well-thought-out sequencing of events in unfolding stories.

The ghouls’ portrayal was very convincing and based on the story, it is difficult to fault the make-up used to bring these characters to life. I was particularly impressed with Wunmi Masoku’s performance. Her facial portrayal of fear mixed with sadness added to the intensity the film needed to makers intended for the movie.

In all, if you are one to slide yourself into the sheets at night and give yourself a little jolt from a things-that-go-bump-in-the night kind of movie (Like I like to do once in a while) then this one is a must watch.