Writer-director Mariama Diallo’s debut feature “Master” doesn’t just blur the lines between the horror genre and institutionalized racism; it convincingly argues that there’s no meaningful difference.
Ghost stories about people who have lived with traumatizing pasts are a common theme in American ghost stories. Racism isn’t a specter hiding in our attic; it’s a malevolent force that infects every surface in the country, and it seems to flourish the most in monuments to white power.
“Master” tells the story of two women at Ancaster College, a fictional institute of higher learning that’s as old as the United States itself. Regina Hall stars in Gail Bishop as the first woman of colour to win the Academy Award. “master”Her home is haunted now by ghosts of women of color who once lived in the same house centuries ago and no such power.
Gail hears their bell ring at any hour of the day. A small, racist figurine is found in the back corner a cupboard. Maggots eat their way through the school portrait. She may call it her home, but she’s not welcome there.
Zoe Renee“Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase”) co-stars as Jasmin Moore, a first-year student who drew the short straw and now resides in a dorm room that’s allegedly haunted. Former students, in particular Black women, met horrible ends in that dorm, and it is said that every year the ghost of a witch — lynched centuries ago on the grounds of the school — selects one more student to drive into madness and, worse, serious self-harm.
Jasmin’s first semester is a nightmare, and not just because she’s fallen prey to vivid dreams about persecution and supernatural influence. As one of only a few people of color on campus, Jasmin’s interactions are marred by racism, double standards and airs of superiority, along with outright hostility.
Most movies depict underhanded acts and horrors from the past. These are signs of an eldritch force or a destabilizing effect on personal security that is caused by unholy external presence. “Master” toys with this possibility, and leaves much of the film’s storyline open to at least some interpretation, but ultimately asserts instead that this clearly horrifying first-act horror-movie setup is everyday life for people of color in a traditionally white, institutionally racist system. No ghosts are necessary, whether they’re real in this movie or not.
It is, sans pun, a haunting observation. “Master”This metatextual parallel can be used to great effect. It’s not a winking motion picture. Its only comment about literature is: “The Scarlet Letter,”These are not supernatural thrillers. Charlotte Hornsby’s eerie cinematography lingers in discomforting spaces, unwelcoming buildings, elite social circles with questionable standards, and Diallo’s characters have no plot-oriented goals to distract them from their surroundings. They want to live comfortably, make positive connections, and do their jobs.
They’re so fundamentally reasonable that every roadblock in their way, regardless of size, is existentially cruel. Regina Hall is superb, which comes as no surprise, and Zoe Renee’s gradual descent into an anxious bundle of nerves is grippingly real and deeply tragic.
One is reminded very quickly of Sophia Takal’s smart, modern, inventive remake of “Black Christmas,”This also took place at an institute higher education plagued by unexamined histories oppression. The institution’s virulent history was vigorously defended by a disturbed young generation of backwards-thinkers. But whereas Takal’s film argued that — if only in the pulpiest possible universe, if only with a crossbow — the evils of the past could be destroyed, “Master”This optimism is not shared by the majority of people. There is little hope that the past can be redeemed.
“Master” is a sobering, dour motion picture, but that’s no critique. It doesn’t find much to smile about, and it is not hard to see why. By the time the credits roll, the film’s only possible conclusion has been reached; it’s satisfying, but fittingly, it denies the audience any true sense of catharsis. The problems are not solved. All attempts to address them have failed. They are now unable to address them.
“Master”It will be shown for the first time at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.