Master [Amazon Prime]

Regina Hall gave one of her best performances in a moody, atmospheric horror film that relied more on psychological terror and actual socio-political racial satire. The real evil, as writer/director Mariama Diallo kept drumming in, was America and its ever pervasive and insidious casual racism. The relentless onslaught of micro-aggressions, colourisms, and white privilege that our Black protagonists have to endure was honestly more shocking and bracing than the actual supernatural terror that may or may not just be in their head. 

Master may lack the satirical elegance of Jordan Peele's Get Out, but it did make up for it in its horror component with its reliance on Zoe Renee's unreliable narrator, New England's history of witchcraft and the winterscape. Charlotte Hornsby's cinematography was effectively used to punctuate the growing senses of dread and the juxtaposition of light and shadows as both a thematic and atmospheric choice.

At a brisk 90-plus minutes, the Master was not demanding but Diallo sure did have a lot to say and did try to say/crammed into it. The decision to partition the film into chapters allowed for the passage of time, but it also resulted in a slight interruption of the narrative flow especially with regard to the breaking psyche of those involved. The film could have been a little tighter, removed some of the less consequential subplots, and focused more on either Hall or Renee instead of trying to balance both their storylines simultaneously.

The third actress in this mix was theatre actress Amber Grey and her role was the lynchpin of the Third Act. Her performance was intentionally opaque and vague, but again, her story - and purpose - was too much weight on a small film to carry. 

Following her turn on Nine Perfect Strangers, Hall is finally getting the recognition she deserved and hopefully with this project, she will start getting more films and shows that allow for her to shine. As for Diallo, hopefully she gets a bigger budget for a tighter film because she definitely has a voice and something to say about America.