Candyman

Candyman
Starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Colman Domingo, Michael Hargrove
Directed by Nia DaCosta

The concept of Candyman stemmed from the famed horror author Clive Barker, who introduced the world to the mirrored villain in his short story "The Forbidden" from his "Books of Blood" series. The story of Daniel Robitaille was a tragic one - in the 19th century he was involved in a then-forbidden interracial love affair and when it was found out, the people cut off his hand and replaced it with a hook, smeared honey all over him and let the bees sting him continuously, and then set him on fire. Since then his spirit has haunted the projects of Cabrini-Green, appearing in the mirror after someone says his name five times to kill them. The original film ushered in the fabulous horror actor Tony Todd's now-iconic role, and the film itself was a beautifully written horror masterpiece that blended terrors with tragic injustices and even a unique love story that turned Candyman into more than just a traditional Boogeyman. Director Nia DaCosta returned to the "Candyman" roots with her 2021 spiritual sequel, but this time she sheds light on the gentrification of Cabrini-Green and establishes the Candyman mythos as more than just one man - but instead as a symbol of sorts for the injustice of African Americans throughout American history.

Artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and his girlfriend Brianna (Teyonah Parris) live in Chicago where Anthony struggles to find his latest artistic muse - until he hears the story of Helen Lyle and Cabrini-Green from Brianna's brother Troy (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett). Intrigued by the story, he heads to Cabrini-Green - which has now been practically demolished and gentrified - and meets laundromat owner William Burke (Colman Domingo), who tells him his own Candyman story. When he was a child living in Cabrini-Green, he runs into homeless man Sherman Fields (Michael Hargrove), who would give kids candy and had a hook for one hand. When a razor blade is found in a white girl's candy, the police think Sherman is responsible, and William inadvertently reveals his location and Sherman is beaten to death by the police - and then they still find razor blades in candy, resulting in Sherman's posthumous innocence. Since then, if you say Candyman in the mirror five times, he will come out and kill you with his hooked hand.

As Anthony delves into the mythology of Candyman and turns his story into his art, he inadvertently brings Candyman back to life and people once again start saying his name in the mirror and dying in gruesome fashion, but Brianna is more worried about Anthony's sanity, as it seems he's slipping deeper and deeper into his own madness that could result in him becoming the next Candyman.

Gentrification is defined as the process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process. This is a huge issue facing lower-level communities in America, with countless African Americans affected by this process, as is mentioned in the film - "white people built the ghetto, and then erased it when they realized they built the ghetto." It's this backdrop that Nia DaCosta brings "Candyman" to a new generation, and reveals that Daniel Robitaille was just the beginning of Candyman, as the essence has transcended beyond him to other African American men who were murdered by racist officials throughout history. If this was done right, it would've been a powerful, thought provoking piece of horror cinema, but it kinda fell flat in favor of traditional scares and an overall lackluster delivery.

The original "Candyman" gave the titular villain more than just a Michael Myers-like appetite for murder, but made him a totally three-dimensional character. He spoke with elegance and sophistication, a deeper intelligence that is pained with decades of anger, loss, and vengeance. In this film, Candyman becomes an ideal, where multiple African American men murdered wrongfully became the Boogeyman, and while the idea was to keep saying his name, the character itself suffered greatly. The Candyman in this film isn't Daniel Robitaille, but Sherman Fields, a name I had to look up after watching the movie because I forgot they mentioned it. This Candyman had no performance whatsoever, but just served as a means of justice to kill anyone who says Candyman five times in the mirror. You hardly hear him speak, and there's no depth to the character as there was with the original. He would appear, kill, and disappear without much consequence to the audience. The kills themselves were also uninspired, many of which happening off-screen, and also lessens the impact of the story itself.

Replacing Virginia Madsen's transcendent performance, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II could've turned the story into something equally as transcendent, but his character served as a plot point to drive the story forward instead of acting as someone who's interacting with the story. Anthony does some investigation into Candyman, but soon he goes completely mad in his quest, much like Madsen's Helen, but to a much lesser effect. His performance is very one-note, as he keeps talking about Candyman but never digging deeper into his character. Plus he seemingly undergoes changes himself that could turn him into a new Candyman, but no one around him seems to notice the deep physical changes.

The script (co-written by DaCosta, Jordan Peele, and Win Rosenfield) is a bland form of repetition, as it consists of Anthony to people about Candyman, they saying his name, getting murdered, and then some small repercussions that never come to fruition before Anthony introduces someone else to the Candyman. It cycles itself over and over until the film comes to a surprisingly abrupt ending that doesn't make a lick of sense in the grand scheme of things, if only to express the injustice that African Americans continue to face against law enforcement today. That's an important message to tell, but it really missed the mark here, and could've fared better if it had been explored more instead of serving as background fodder for the eventual (non)blood bath.

In trying to shed light on gentrification and the continual injustices hitting the African American community, Nia DaCosta's "Candyman" could've served as an important, impactful horror/social commentary hybrid but was weighed down by a circular script and turning the concept of Candyman into a less-than-frightening caricature of the original. 

The Score: C-