Film Review: CANDYMAN (2021): Plenty of Scares and Fine Acting in Adequate Reboot

Candyman Review

Candyman (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by Nia DaCosta and starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Colman Domingo, Kyle Kaminsky, Vanessa Williams, Brian King, Miriam Moss, Rebecca Spence, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Christiana Clark, Michael Hargrove, Rodney L Jones III, Heidi Grace Engerman, Ireon Roach, Breanna Lind and Tony Todd.

Director Nia DaCosta’s reboot of Candyman is co-written by Jordan Peele who made the absolutely mesmerizing 2017 horror film Get Out. Expectations were extraordinarily high for Candyman and the real surprise is that the new film is more of an art house picture than a horror film. It has elements of both a story-driven film and a flat out slasher picture but it is thoughtfully constructed and the plot unfolds at a natural pace. The cast is mostly fine with some very complex performances by the leads.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II stars in the film’s central role as Anthony McCoy, an artist who has a girlfriend named Brianna (Teyonah Parris). This movie is set in Chicago where the Cabrini Green towers seen in the original 1992 Candyman film have since been torn down. Anthony seeks inspiration in his art work so turns to the old history of the neighborhood in which he lives. As a result of his research and stories told to him, Anthony comes to create a piece called “Say My Name” which is inspired by the legend that if you say the killer Candyman’s name five times in a mirror, he will come to murder you.

Rebecca Spence plays art critic Finley Stephens who takes an interest in Anthony’s new work which frighteningly parallels real-life events. Spence’s character is one of the film’s several disappointments. The character is poorly conceived and only seems to exist so we can see her get her comeuppance. Another badly written character is Clive (Brian King) who is a gallery owner that Brianna works for. Calling Clive one-dimensional would be an understatement. It seems several characters in the script are written as merely Candyman bait and that’s OK but I only wish the writing was stronger in terms of developing the characters beyond being bona fide jerks.

What’s good about Candyman is the central performance of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II who captures the nuances and insecurities of Anthony, the struggling artist, to perfection. This character has a lot of depth and is the movie’s backbone as Anthony undergoes a transformation throughout the film that includes being bitten by a bee and becoming, essentially, a whole new entity. By film’s end, Anthony experiences the essence of true terror and the actor puts in a remarkable performance. Teyonah Parris as Brianna, the woman who loves him, more than holds her own beside him in another A-plus performance found in the film.

The supporting cast includes a nice turn by Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as Brianna’s brother Troy who gives us some background into the film’s story’s history in his scenes in the beginning of the movie. The real scene-stealer, however, is Colman Domingo who was so terrific in this summer’s Zola. Playing William, a long-time resident of the film’s neighborhood, Domingo’s character makes several appearances in the film that are important to the plot development and in the scenes towards the end, Domingo delivers his lines with aplomb and the fierce turn he gives in this film is definitely one of its major assets.

There are also a lot of symbolic hidden meanings in the imagery in Candyman. This film employs shadow puppets to give audiences background information on the story line as well which I found to be incredibly unique and fascinating. Sammy Davis Jr.’s song “The Candy Man” is played at the beginning of the film to backwards images of the film’s movie studio logos. That is certainly another interesting choice the film makes as well to correspond with the film’s idea of mirror images.

There are a few crowd-pleasing moments here. For me, the scene where Teyonah Parris’ Brianna is in the back of a cop car and asks the police officer to see herself in the mirror made me cheer. Other intriguing scenes include when some high school students stand in front of a mirror in a bathroom to chant Candyman’s name five times to see what happens. But, the film strangely isn’t about being a crowd-pleaser. It’s more interested in conveying its themes more delicately than one would expect in a typical horror film. There’s a lot going on here and the film’s themes would definitely make for some nice conversation afterwards making it an ideal date movie.

Tony Todd, the original Candyman, makes an appearance as well in the new picture. Todd is the man who made the role of Candyman a legend. But, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has what it takes to rival Todd in future Candyman sequels. In short, if you can put up with a few poorly written minor characters, it’s worth investing your time in the new Candyman.

Rating: 7/10

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