His House Review

His House is a British horror film that has been met with critical acclaim, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and earned two BIFA awards.

Bol (Sope Dirisu) and Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) are refugees from South Sudan who get asylum in the UK. They are given a house on the outskirts of London, but they struggle to adjust to living on their new estate. Even worse, the couple is haunted by a spirit from their homeland.

His House can be described as Ken Loach directing a horror film, and considering this was Remi Weekes’ first feature film, he would be happy with this description. Like Loach’s work, His House was a film that looked at the marginalised and focused on an unfashionable topic, things that Loach often explores. His House also follows the kitchen sink realism approach that Loach often employs.

His House does not shy away from the social aspects of the story. Within the first few minutes Bol and Rial fled a war zone and took the perilous crossing over the English Channel. On the estate they experienced racism with one of the most shocking scenes being when Rial went to a group of black schoolboys for help, and they told her to ‘go to Africa.’ It’s not the reaction audience members would expect.

Whilst the social themes were welcome, the film succeeded with its horror. The film was about Bol and Rial dealing with their trauma. They suffered in a war zone and they lost their daughter when they crossed the Channel. Within the house there were items within the walls of their new flat, which lead to the mystery of what happened. It was where Bol and Rial were haunted by the ghosts of the past, as well as literal ghosts. This personal element made the horror really effective, especially when they see the ghost of their drowned daughter.

There were also effective horror moments. One of the highlights was when Bol gets attacked by a group of ghosts, who could only move in the dark. They were like the Weeping Angels in Doctor Who, creatures that can only move when there was no one watching. Dirisu was convincing with his experience of terror and Weekes showed masterful direction as the ghost attacked. It was a great standalone piece of horror, let alone within the context of the film.

His House was a modernised haunted house story. Instead of an old, gothic house that was haunted by a long-dead resident or connected to a legend, His House was set in a modern house on a council estate. The threat was a spirit who came from Africa and was personally tied to the central couple. There was no escape for Bol and Rial. The use of African mythology helped to give His House a unique twist since many audiences wouldn’t know much about it, and it adds to the multiculturalism of Britain.

Dirisu and Mosaku were praised for their performances in the film. Mosaku won the BIFA for Best Actress for performance and Dirisu was nominated. They were playing a couple that had to deal with the weight of their guilt and trauma and The Apeth made things worse with his torment. It was a film where their relationship was put under extreme strain by the events. I was particularly impressed by Dirisu. He was in his late twenties when he filmed His House yet he looked and acted with a lot of maturity.

His House was an excellent debut film from Weekes. Weekes and his writing team were able to craft a film that was an excellent horror film, a social drama about the lives of refugees, and a personal drama about a struggling couple.

His House is available on the BBC iPlayer in the UK and on Netflix internationally.