His House: When Reality is More Horrifying Than a Sinister Spirit
By: Vito H
Tags: Film, Culture, Horror, Race, Film Reviews

Rial and Bol peeking at their new neighborhood in England.

His House is a 2020 horror film directed by Remi Weekes. It tells the story of a Sudanese family, Bol (Sope Dirisu), Rial (Wunmi Mosaku), and Nyagak (Malaika Abigaba), refugees escaping from a war in Sudan by crossing the ocean in a motorboat to start a new life in England. Sadly, the overcrowded motorboat broke down and some of the refugees failed to be rescued, including their daughter Nyagak. Both Bol and Rial tried their best to survive and deal with their griefs in the probational asylum provided by the England goverment, until they realized that the walls of the house is haunted by an evil spirit, Apeth, following them all the way from Africa. Bol wanted to assimilate and survive in the house occupied with the evil spirit, while Rial wanted to return to Africa and escape the evil spirit. Which choice will they make?

For years we are presented with cliche haunted house films in which the characters don’t want to leave their house even though they barely have any reasons to stay. Yet, His House shattered that cliche beautifully. Bol and Rial have a legitimate reason to stay as they are forced to follow the England goverment strict rules or they will be deported. As refugees, they don’t have much money, a stable job, and even a sense of security. This difficult circumstances which pressured them to stay in their “haunted house” made the film horrifying.

I personally liked the conflict between Bol wanting to assimilate and imitate the local culture, and Rial wanting to preserve her traditional African culture. For instance, Bol cut his hair in a barber and buy western style clothings, while Rial prefer to eat on the floor and wear African clothings. It creates a truly relatable experience as both of these choices are really hard to make, especially for immigrants who are trying to create a new life. Furthermore, in the film we are presented with a glimpse of Sudanese culture, such as clothings, beliefs, and many others presented mostly by Rial. It really gave a fresh touch to a horror film which we barely see before.

One of the most memorable scenes in the film is when Rial was bullied by few British-African teenagers for talking and dressing like an African. She was insulted and even told to go back to Africa. This irony presents how racism and white supremacy has rooted deep within the society. To these young British-Africans, African immigrants are just an immigrant which are “lower” than them. In one of the interviews, Remi Weekes admitted that the scene is inspired by real stories faced by immigrants in England and America, and he said, “If you’re within the culture long enough, white supremacy soaks into everything.”

I personally don’t see this as a scary ghost horror film. The jumpscares, the ghosts, and how the film plays with the tension and emotion of the audience is great, but it is not the scariest part of the film. What is legitimately scary in this film is how the characters face their inner demons, the guilt and the trauma they endured as immigrants. This is the part we are concerned with everyday. In life, we may not face a sinister demon like Bol and Ria does, but we will always face our inner demons, and that what makes His House truly terrifying.