The Nia DaCosta-directed Candyman film is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. It is a reimagining of the horror classic whose themes and message is very timely. While its release has been pushed back due to the Covid-19 pandemic, interest in the film has never wavered. So as we wait for September to come, DaCosta has released a beautiful and compelling video on social media that teases the Candyman mythology but takes a deep dive into the social impact of the character and how his story is a reflection of today’s society.
CANDYMAN, at the intersection of white violence and black pain, is about unwilling martyrs. The people they were, the symbols we turn them into, the monsters we are told they must have been. pic.twitter.com/MEwwr8umdI
— Nia DaCosta (@NiaDaCosta) June 17, 2020
As you can see in the caption: there is no new footage from the film. However, its contents still will leave a mark that will surely spark a conversation. DaCosta notes that “at the intersection of white violence and black pain, is about unwilling martyrs. The people they were, the symbols we turn them into, the monsters we are told they must have been.”
The video that appeared on Twitter tells the origins story of Candyman through the art of shadow puppetry. Its imagery is a stark reminder of the racial injustice that continues to be perpetrated by the rich and privileged.
DaCosta added that Manuel Cinema provided the puppetry, while Front Porch Productions worked on the score. She also hinted at their work being featured in the finished product.
Here’s the official plot synopsis for Candyman:
In the present day, a decade after the last of the Cabrini towers were torn down, visual artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and his girlfriend, gallery director Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris), move into a luxury loft condo in Cabrini, now gentrified beyond recognition and inhabited by upwardly mobile millennials. With Anthony’s painting career on the brink of stalling, a chance encounter with a Cabrini Green old-timer (Colman Domingo) exposes Anthony to the tragically horrific nature of the true story behind Candyman. Anxious to maintain his status in the Chicago art world, Anthony begins to explore these macabre details in his studio as fresh grist for paintings, unknowingly opening the door to a complicated past that unravels his own sanity and unleashes a terrifyingly viral wave of violence that puts him on a collision course with destiny.
By the looks of things, Candyman is a social commentary that is also a horror film. It’s in the same vein as films like Jordan Peele’s, who is also a producer on the film, Get Out and Us.
Candyman is scheduled to open in theaters on September 25, 2020.
