Take a look back at these Hollywood icons in their early days to see how far they've come in their careers—and how little they've visibly aged.
Related lists from IMDb editors
Related lists from IMDb users
Title: His House (2020)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Sope Dirisu | ... | Bol Majur | |
| Wunmi Mosaku | ... | Rial Majur | |
 |
Malaika Wakoli-Abigaba | ... | Nyagak |
| Matt Smith | ... | Mark Essworth | |
| Javier Botet | ... | The Witch | |
| Yvonne Campbell | ... | South Sudanese Woman | |
| Vivienne Soan | ... | Neighbour | |
| Lola May | ... | Nyagak's Mother | |
| Kevin Layne | ... | The Cameroonian | |
|
|
Maureen Casey | ... | Detention Custody Officer |
|
|
Homer Todiwala | ... | Iraqi Man |
| Dominic Coleman | ... | Lead Officer | |
|
|
Sally Plumb | ... | Secondary Officer |
| Roland Manookian | ... | Barber | |
| Andy Gathergood | ... | Church Man | |
A refugee couple makes a harrowing escape from war-torn South Sudan, but then they struggle to adjust to their new life in an English town that has an evil lurking beneath the surface.
There are so many terrible films, particularly in the horror genre, on Netflix at the moment. This is not one of them. All the horrors I've watched recently are either far too dumb, or too far the other way - relying on being artsy or having powerful imagery but sacrificing a satisfying story. This one gets it just right. It is genuinely intriguing but leaves you with a resolution. There are layers of interpretation, but also a nice clear cut story.
I found for a good part of the film I thought it was just a theme of asylum seeking; a couple fleeing something bad and arriving at a not-beautiful side of Britain, with the man trying to adjust to a new culture and then woman conversely holding onto her roots, all through the narrative of an apparently haunted house. The pair being explicitly warned that they might be sent "back" if they made any trouble, or didn't integrate properly, emphasised this theme. But it turned out to be about something quite different - something I can't really say without giving away the plot substantially. It could have been based on anyone with a past, and the fact that the main characters were refugees worked well for the narrative but was not the entire theme.
It was well cast and very well acted, which is not actually all that typical in many films being streamed at the moment. Matt Smith is in it but as a side character: they don't try to force him into it beyond his welcome just to exploit the well known name; also refreshing. He is good in his part, but the two leads are allowed to shine.
I'm not much of an artistic critic but I felt they built and maintained the atmosphere brilliantly. I can't even tell you if it was visuals or score or lighting or whatever because I'm not the type of audience to dissect that - I just know it gripped me and took me with it emotionally. The tension is good and there were jump scares that work well. Personally I can't stand a film that's just reliant on jumpy moments or gore and lacks any actual substance. This, to me, gives the best of all worlds. And when it ended I felt genuinely glad I'd watched it, and watched it to the end.
Honestly this little film buried far below the (poorer quality) netflix recommendations was a very positive surprise for me and I would definitely recommend watching.