It is often said that horror films can work best as a mirror to societal issues of the time they were created. With Remi Weekes' His House (who directed and wrote the screenplay) you have a look into the plight of asylum seekers from their perspective with horror elements added to the natural alienation that comes from being in a strange new place.
Bol (Sope Dirisu) and Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) are asylum seekers to the UK from South Sudan who illegally entered the country, a dangerous trip by boat that resulted in the drowning of their daughter. After an undetermined time spent in a detention centre they are provided with a house in a run-down area of London, with help in the form of their case worker, Mark (Matt Smith - Last Night in Soho, Doctor Who). While Bol does his best to try and fit in to this new way of living, his wife is less well adjusted and pines for the home they left behind. Both however begin to experience supernatural occurrences in their new home, with Rial becoming convinced their are being haunted by a witch that has followed them from Sudan.
Even without the supernatural horror going on there is the horror of being strangers in a strange land. This is demonstrated by the surreal places that Bol goes to that really seem designed to mark him as an outsider. perhaps best seen in the clinical looking department store he travels to, in which he is silently followed around by a dubious security guard. Rial has her own misadventures, getting lost on the way to the local doctors she encounters three black teenagers who she approaches for help, but who react to her in xenophobic ways. These outside moments are few and far between unfortunately, the meat of the film takes place in the dilapidated apartment the two live in, whose muted colour scheme made it seem like its own world entirely. There are only a handful of side characters, chief of which is Mark, a good turn from Smith who steals his scenes with his understated performance.
The horror starts off slight as you may expect, sudden loud noises, glimpsed figures, and hallucinations. This devolves especially for Bol, with the appearance of undead creatures (a cool part of the film). It feels throughout that something happened in the past that might not make the two seem as innocent as they appear. There is actually a prolonged flashback sequence that reveals some of the couple's backstory. Whether it is the guilt of surviving the boat sinking that claimed so many other refugees, or if they really are being haunted I think can be left up to viewer discretion. What matters with this story is that the protagonists believe themselves under unnatural attack. As the story ramps up both characters end up in pure hallucinations that see them back in their homeland. There were some good transitions here, and in general the special effects were effective, but it felt a bit limited by taking place in such a drab location.
His House could be almost seen as a typical haunted house movie, but the plot device of the protagonists being asylum seekers did freshen this up a bit. It for once makes sense why the characters don't flee their home (they are literally not allowed to under the terms of applying for citizenship), and their balance between trying to appear well adjusted to the country and their horror of being in a haunted house works well. The film never gets to be scary sadly, there was never a feeling that the duo might not survive what is happening to them. Still, a new idea in an established sub-genre meant this wasn't all bad. His House can currently be streamed on Netflix.
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