nanny

Nanny

Directed by Nikyatu Jusu
U.S. | 2022 | Narrative
97 minutes | English

Aisha, an undocumented Senegalese immigrant, lands a job as the nanny of a wealthy Manhattan couple. While she easily wins the affection of their young daughter, Rose, she becomes a pawn in the couple's facade of a marriage and is forced to confront a concealed truth that threatens to shatter her precarious version of the American Dream. The mother (Michelle Monaghan) is as controlling as the dad is disillusioned and woke. Haunted by the absence of the young son she left behind in Senegal, Aisha hopes her job will afford her the chance to bring him to the U.S. and share in the life she is piecing together. As his arrival approaches, a supernatural presence begins to invade both her dreams and her reality. As envisioned by writer-director Nikyatu Jusu and brilliantly embodied by actress Anna Diop, the story elegantly weaves in supernatural entities derived from West African folklore, spinning this electrifying film into a singular genre all its own.