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Nanny (film)

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Nanny
Official release poster
Directed byNikyatu Jusu
Written byNikyatu Jusu
Produced by
  • Nikkia Moulterie
  • Daniela Taplin Lundberg
Starring
CinematographyRina Yang
Edited byRobert Mead
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed byAmazon Studios
Release dates
  • January 22, 2022 (2022-01-22) (Sundance)
  • November 23, 2022 (2022-11-23) (United States)
Running time
98 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
Languages

Nanny is a 2022 American psychological horror film written and directed by Nikyatu Jusu, in her feature directorial debut. The film stars Anna Diop, Michelle Monaghan, Sinqua Walls, Morgan Spector, Rose Decker, and Leslie Uggams. Jason Blum serves as an executive producer through his Blumhouse Television banner.

Nanny had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2022, where it won the Grand Jury Prize, making it the first horror film to ever win this award at Sundance. The film was given a limited theatrical release on November 23, 2022, by Amazon Studios, prior to streaming on Prime Video on December 16, 2022.

Plot

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Aisha is an undocumented Senegalese immigrant in New York City. She left her now six-year-old son, Lamine, in the care of her cousin, Mariatou, in Senegal a year earlier. She hopes to earn enough money to bring her son and cousin as immigrants to the United States to live with her.

Aisha is hired as a nanny for Rose, the young daughter of Amy and Adam Hav, a wealthy white couple who live on Manhattan's Upper East Side. She and Rose become very close, while Amy and Adam are distracted by their careers, often causing Aisha to have to stay late – or even overnight – when neither parent returns home.

Aisha attracts the attention of Malik, the doorman at the Havs' apartment building. They soon begin a relationship, to the approval of Kathleen, Malik's grandmother, and Bishop, his son, who is roughly Lamine's age. Kathleen and Aisha share an undercurrent of magical perception.

The Havs are often remiss in paying Aisha, which delays her being able to cover airfare for Lamine and Mariatou. Adam offers to assist her and instead makes sexual advances towards her to which places her in turmoil. She begins having dreams of drowning, as well as waking visions of Lamine.

Amy leaves the family with no notice, leaving Aisha to stay full time while Adam tries to sort things out. Alone with Rose one evening, Aisha begins having visions and Rose seemingly disappears from the apartment. When she hears voices, she grabs a knife from the kitchen and checks the bathroom, where she is mysteriously pulled into the full tub and almost drowns. She suddenly realizes Rose is in the tub, bathing. She begs Rose's forgiveness for scaring her with the knife, to which Rose replies that it is Lamine causing the visions, as he is jealous of Aisha's attention to Rose.

Aisha finally raises the funds for airfare. Mariatou arrives alone, saying that during the long wait for the airfare, Lamine drowned in the ocean during a beach visit. Malik takes Aisha, now pregnant with their child, to stay with him, Bishop and Kathleen. Aisha goes for a walk, a ruse to go and drown herself in the Hudson River. Malik rescues her, and they move on with life, including their new baby.

Cast

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In addition, Olamide Candide-Johnson and Jahleel Kamara make brief appearances as Mariatou and Lamine, respectively.

Production

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On April 13, 2021, it was announced that Nikyatu Jusu would make her directorial debut with Nanny,[2] a film that she wrote and is part of the 2020 The Black List of screenplays that would not be released in theaters during that calendar year.[3][4] In June 2021, Anna Diop, Michelle Monaghan, Sinqua Walls, Morgan Spector, Zephani Idoko and Phylicia Rashad joined the cast of the film.[5][6][7][8] Phylicia Rashad was replaced by Leslie Uggams before production began.[9]

Principal photography began in June 2021 in New York City,[3][10] with cinematography by Rina Yang.[11]

Release

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Nanny had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2022.[12] In March 2022, Amazon Studios and Blumhouse Productions acquired distribution rights to the film in a deal around $7 million, winning them in a competitive situation that also included Sony Pictures Classics and Neon. Jason Blum, who joined the film as an executive producer post-acquisition, remarked: "We're proud to have writer/director Nikyatu Jusu's Nanny as part of our slate for Amazon. It's a gem of a horror film that combines impressive filmmaking and powerful storytelling, and is worthy of the Grand Jury Prize it was awarded at Sundance." The studios plan to release the film both theatrically and on Prime Video.[13] A special presentation of the film was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2022, followed by one at the 2022 AFI Fest on November 3, 2022.[14] Nanny was given a limited theatrical release on November 23, 2022, by Amazon Studios, prior to streaming on Prime Video starting December 16, 2022.[15][16]

Reception

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The film received positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 90% of 143 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Led by Anna Diop's strong central performance, the smartly disquieting Nanny is a promising debut for writer-director Nikyatu Jusu."[17] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 72 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[18]

Accolades

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At the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, Nanny won the Grand Jury Prize in the US Dramatic Competition, which made the film the first horror film, and Jusu the second Black female filmmaker, to ever win the top prize.[19][20][21]

References

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  1. ^ Debruge, Peter (January 22, 2022). "'Nanny' Review: An Immigrant Mother Separated From Her Child Fears the Worst". Variety. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  2. ^ Gingold, Michael (August 30, 2022). "Sundance Horror Hit "Nanny" Gets a New Trailer and Poster". Rue Morgue. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  3. ^ a b N'Duka, Amanda (April 13, 2021). "Stay Gold Features & Topic Studios Team On Horror Film 'Nanny' From Nikyatu Jusu". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  4. ^ Desta, Yohana (December 14, 2020). "The Black List 2020: Scripts About Cannibals, Billionaires, and Tabloid Faves Make the Cut". Vanity Fair. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  5. ^ Kroll, Justin (June 9, 2021). "'Titans' Alum Anna Diop To Star in 'Nanny' For Stay Gold Features And Topic Studios". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  6. ^ Kroll, Justin (June 11, 2021). "Michelle Monaghan Joins Anna Diop In 'Nanny' For Stay Gold Features And Topic Studios". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  7. ^ Kit, Borys (June 22, 2021). "'American Soul' Actor Sinqua Walls Joins Anna Diop in Thriller 'Nanny' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  8. ^ Kroll, Justin (June 29, 2021). "Morgan Spector And Phylicia Rashad Join Thriller 'Nanny' For Stay Gold Pictures And Topic Studios". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  9. ^ Galvan, Pilar (November 23, 2022). "'Nanny' employs African folklore in a haunting Black horror film". NPR. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  10. ^ "Film and TV Projects Going Into Production – Nanny". Variety Insight. Archived from the original on March 28, 2021. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  11. ^ Yang, Rina (June 28, 2021). "Rina Yang Begins on Nanny". Lux Artists. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  12. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony; Patten, Dominic (December 9, 2021). "Sundance 2022: Hybrid Festival Sees Princess Diana, Michael Kenneth Williams, Dakota Johnson, Bill Cosby, NYC Rock'n'Roll & Regina Hall Fill Lineup". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  13. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (March 16, 2022). "Prime Video & Blumhouse Win World Rights To Sundance-Winning Horror 'Nanny' In $7M Deal". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  14. ^ "Nanny". Toronto International Film Festival.
  15. ^ "Nanny" (Press release). Amazon Studios. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  16. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 1, 2022). "Prime Video Dates Fall Movie Slate: Harry Styles' 'My Policeman', Lena Dunham's 'Catherine Called Birdy', Sylvester Stallone's 'Samaritan' & More". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  17. ^ "Nanny". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved July 4, 2023. Edit this at Wikidata
  18. ^ "Nanny". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  19. ^ Galuppo, Mia (January 29, 2022). "Sundance: 'Nanny' and 'The Exiles' Take Top Prizes at 2022 Fest". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  20. ^ Olsen, Mark (January 28, 2022). "Sundance Film Festival 2022 awards: 'Nanny,' 'Exiles' win big". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  21. ^ Bastién, Angelica Jade (November 9, 2022). "Nikyatu Jusu's Fables". Vulture. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
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