The Man in My Basement Review: Ambitious but Uneven Thriller Falters in Execution
Walter Mosley’s unsettling novel The Man in My Basement gets a bold but uneven adaptation in Nadia Latif’s debut feature. Premiering at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, the film boasts strong performances from Corey Hawkins and Willem Dafoe, but struggles to balance its many ideas, leaving an intriguing premise diluted by scattershot storytelling.
A Haunted Legacy
At the heart of the film is Charles Blakey (Corey Hawkins), a man adrift in 1994 Sag Harbor. His family home — passed down through eight generations — is his only remaining possession. Estranged from relatives, broke, and despised by his community, Charles is depicted as more than flawed; he’s deeply unlikable. When his cousin refuses him entry to the bank and his aunt cuts him off over the phone, Latif paints a portrait of a man both haunted and morally compromised.
The Strange Visitor
Enter Anniston Bennet (Willem Dafoe), a mysterious, smiling stranger who offers Charles an improbable bargain: $65,000 to live in his basement for two months. Despite ominous visions and unsettling dreams, Charles accepts. Latif and cinematographer Ula Pontikos stage these early scenes with skill — boxing Charles in the frame, while elevating Anniston with near-reverence. Stylistically, the film’s first act hums with tension and promise.
Fractured Storytelling
But as the narrative unfolds, cohesion unravels. The arrival of Narciss Gully (Anna Diop), an African history curator who values Charles’ family artifacts, opens the door to fascinating themes about heritage and identity. Yet, rather than diving into Mosley’s incisive racial commentary — particularly the Blakeys’ unique family history of never having been enslaved — Latif layers on extraneous elements. The result is a muddled mix of jump-scare horror, historical drama, and morality play.
Questions about character motivation pile up. Why doesn’t Charles push back harder against Anniston’s manipulations? Why does Narciss remain engaged with him despite his erratic behavior? Instead of sharpening Mosley’s allegorical edge, the film diffuses it.
Performances That Ground the Chaos
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Corey Hawkins captures Charles’ desperation and volatility, even when the script gives him contradictory beats.
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Willem Dafoe is predictably magnetic, his Anniston equal parts charming and sinister — a devil figure whose menace never fully coalesces.
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Anna Diop adds gravitas as Narciss, though her character is underdeveloped compared to her potential.
Verdict
The Man in My Basement is visually stylish and thematically ambitious, but its lack of cohesion blunts the impact of Mosley’s powerful source material. What begins as a haunting psychological drama devolves into an overstuffed, inconsistent thriller.
Grade: C+
The film premiered at TIFF 2025 and will be released theatrically by Andscape on September 12, 2025, followed by streaming on Hulu.
