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To find the scariest monster we need look no further than the human demon.
It helps, however, if the movie in question is scary as fuck.
Lost during their perilous journey, we learn, was their daughter.
Make it easy for people.
Be one of the good ones, theyre told.
So what if there are flies and maggots all over their new house?
And so what if theres a demon lurking within its walls?
Pretty quickly, mysterious holes emerge.
Unseen footsteps thunder thump-thump-thumpthumpthumpTHUMP.
Husband and wife have sudden, ghostly visions of their treacherous ocean crossing.
The director even manages to give a new spin to the usual interplay betweennow-you-see-itdarkness andwait-where-did-it-golight.
Thats not to say, however, that the social dimension has taken a back seat.
Anapethhas risen from the ocean, she tells her husband matter-of-factly, using the Dinka word forwitch.
It has followed us here.
Their harrowing journey across the water where they lost their daughter keeps returning as a central image of trauma.
(Yes, Ive probably already said too much.)
Weekes and his cast get the little things right, which in turn allow the big things to work.
Also, their strange new milieu is often scary enough without any assistance from ancient witches.
That the kids themselves are Black just adds to her sense of disorientation and fear.
The film leaves you with wounds that wont heal.
