Master

 

Master

Starring Regina Hall, Zoe Renee, Amber Gray, Ella Hunt

Directed by Mariama Diallo

Despite the steps taken, racism is still rampant in America and it affects millions of persons of color, and as someone who's not a POC, I can't begin to say I know how they feel when they have to act differently in order to fit in, just for the color of their skin. While many feel that the collegiate world is more open and accepting to diversity, sometimes it's just a smoke screen in order to make it appear that they're that way, all the while maintaining the white status quo and offering positions to a person of color to make them seem more forward focused. It's something that needs to be heavily addressed, and a film like "Master" tries to do so, but it seems that it doesn't quite get its message across due to the fact that it tries to wear too many hats and doesn't land in any aspect.

Gail Bishop (Regina Hall) is the first Black "master" of an almost all-white prestigious institution in New England, and it seems from the start she's just there for wallpaper decoration. Her new home's door doesn't open. She gets comments from former masters who remark on how amazing it is that the school is so forward-thinking as to have a Black master, and even suggests that she could be president, and change her name to Barack. You can sense the tension from the beginning, and it only intensifies as Gail is seemingly haunted by a spirit that doesn't want her around. She relies on her friend, fellow instructor Liv Beckman (Amber Gray), when she finds maggots in her home. Liv herself has some issues she's dealing with, as she's attempting to gain tenure at the school while also thinking she could get it just because she's a person of color and not on her own merit.

Meanwhile, freshman student Jasmine Moore (Zoe Renee) arrives on campus, and learns that she's staying in - as the upper classmen remarks - THE ROOM. She doesn't know what that means, but befriends her white roommate Amelia (Talia Ryder), and her equally privileged White friends. One night she learns from a fellow student that the room she's staying in is haunted by the spirit of a woman who hanged herself in the room after being haunted by the spirit of a woman named Margaret Millett, who was accused of witchcraft and also hanged near the school way back in the colonial era. Soon Jasmine is seeing the witch everywhere, and worries that she'll befall the same fate as the other girl who hanged herself, who also happened to be Black as well. Yet this sits on the back-burner as Jasmine faces her own racism at the school - from a cringe-worthy party where her fellow White students sing the "n" word, as well as these students calling her "Beyonce," or "one of the Williams sisters." She turns to Gail for help, and the two try to figure out what's really going on and what secrets the college is hiding.

The word "what" in cinema has vastly different meanings depending on its usage. Sometimes there's films where you go "what!" in pure excitement, such as movies like "Spider-Man: No Way Home" or "Avengers: Endgame," and it signifies a pleasurable feeling because something is happening on screen that not only makes sense, but is an exhilarating moment. Then there's other films where you go "what?" in the sense of...what the heck just happened...and not in a good way. "Master" is, unfortunately, the latter. The film develops itself as a duel theme of horror and racist drama, mixing in a ghost story of an accused witch as well as overly blatant uses of racism that's the real horror of the movie. Sadly, by hedging their bets, they lose out on both ends. The film is neither terrifying, nor does it explore the deep-seeded sense of racism in America, but rather just brushes the surface of it.

Despite the seemingly lack of character development, all three main actresses shine in their roles. Regina Hall continues to elevate her resume from the slapstick comedic work in "Scary Movie" to more heavily-themed films like "The Hate U Give," and in "Master" she tries to deliver something more than what the script allowed for. Zoe Renee gives Jasmine a duel sense of innocence and power, a girl who's not afraid to fight but also is downright frightened by the events happening around her. Amber Gray's Liv is more mysterious, as she seems to be harboring her own secrets, and she plays it off perfectly.

Again, I can't relate to what happens in the film, but even to me it's obvious that the school is just making Gail the master for the sake of appropriation. There's even a darkly humorous moment in the film where, after Gail and Jasmine discover a burning cross, there's a video that the school made talking about how forward-thinking and culturally relevant the college has become. If the film solely focused on this story, it could've become the next "Get Out" (which many reviewers are comparing it to, and I don't understand why when there's a Black horror film it always has to be compared to "Get Out"), but again, it doesn't. It leaves too many questions open-ended, it seems like the writers, director, and actors all gave up near the finish line, and includes a huge plot twist that not only doesn't make sense, but serves as an insult to the viewers who invested their time and thoughts into the project.

The Score: D