Femme Fatalities: Candyman (2021) with short film
Director: Nia DaCosta Run Time: 91 min. Rating: R Release Year: 2021
Starring: Colman Domingo, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Teyonah Parris, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
Country: Canada, United States
Language: English
Femme Fatalities
An amazing selection of horror feature and short films made by women, curated by filmmakers Jenn Wexler and Hope Madden.
See our full lineupDaCosta’s feature film Candyman (2021) is presented with her short film Candyman (2020).
About the film:
From a screenplay co-written by producers Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld with director Nia DaCosta, Candyman (2021) returns to the now-gentrified Chicago neighborhood where the legend began. For as long as residents can remember, the housing projects were terrorized by a ghost story about a supernatural killer with a hook for a hand, easily summoned by those daring to repeat his name five times into a mirror.
A decade after the last of the towers were torn down, visual artist Anthony and gallery director Brianna move into a new luxury loft condo. Exposed to the tragically horrific nature of the true story behind Candyman, Anthony begins to explore the macabre details in his studio, unknowingly opening a door to a complex past that unravels his own sanity and unleashes a terrifying wave of violence that puts him on a collision course with destiny.
“A standout splatterfest that’s simultaneously silly, frightening and simmering with rage at the festering wound of US racial injustice.”
—Kevin Maher, Times (UK)
About the filmmaker:
Writer and director Nia DaCosta attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her debut feature Little Woods (2018) was selected for the 2015 Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Lab and won the Nora Ephron Award at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. For her sophomore feature Candyman (2021), DaCosta was named one of Variety’s “10 Directors to Watch” at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. With her most recent project, The Marvels (2023), DaCosta became the youngest filmmaker to direct a Marvel film.
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