Plot: Aisha travels to the US to build a life for herself and finds work as a nanny. All she wants is to make enough money to be able to call her son, but something goes very wrong.
If there was one movie that was overhyped this year, it was NANNY.
The movie won awards, and it was practically a matter of waiting for it to release so we could all experience the reason why this movie worked.
Unfortunately, NANNY isn't something horror fans will enjoy. It's slow, mostly drama, and never explains the myths that form the core of the story.
People are expected to understand what the warnings mean without ever explaining what those myths are. The result: a winding story with an ending that suddenly moves too quickly.
NANNY Movie Plot
Aisha is an immigrant in the US who is looking to build a life for herself and her son Lamine who is still back in her country.
She lands a nanny job and Amy, the woman who hired her, is thrilled to have her. In fact, she even gives her a hug the first time she meets her. Amy introduces Aisha to her daughter Rose who is just as happy to see her.
Amy's husband Adam is away at work. His office is off-limits but it is completely see-through which means no one has to stay curious at home. Based on the photos on the office wall, Adam is a photo journalist. Some of his photos from Africa, disturb Aisha who keeps quiet because she is determined to keep her job.
She opens the fridge once Amy leaves and sighs when she sees the food in tupperware boxes. It's okay for the kid. Not her.
Aisha has even been given a folder that contains info about Rose and Amy had told Aisha to write down any notes she may have in the empty pages at the back.
While Rose is given her normal food, Aisha has cooked traditional Senegalese food for herself which Rose immediately wants to try. Aisha lets her even though it's a tad spicy. Rose loves it and gobbles it up.
Aisha enjoys her work but she misses her son, too.
When Amy asks her to stay overnight once, Aisha quickly names her price which Amy thinks its steep but is still willing to pay. Her husband Adam is returning after all.
There's a party with guests and Amy, lets Aisha borrow a dress. At the party, Aisha feels awkward, and when Adam arrives, he isn't too pleased about the surprise.
Aisha changes back into her normal clothes and meets with Adam who is kind with her but does tend to run his mouth.
Soon enough Aisha gets a little frustrated when Amy forgets to pay her. She brings it up with Adam who does pay her when he can.
Aisha is satisfied for the moment, and later meets a man called Malik who openly flirts with her. She develops a relationship with him and spends the night with him.
In the meantime, Amy is increasingly frustrated with her workload, forgets to pay Aisha, and Adam refuses to take on the responsibility.
Aisha does speak to her son and sing lullabies but one day the connection goes off. She sings it to Rose and it is obvious that she misses Lamine.
Then one day at a pool with Rose, Aisha sees an entity and almost drowns. She is frightened by what she is seeing but focuses on her work.
She sits with the other nannies in the park and doesn't make that much of an effort to connect with them. She listens to the stories of misbehaving kids and clearly she is fortunate to get Rose who acts like a brat only once.
When Amy finds out Aisha has been feeding her spicy food, she loses her cool and reminds her that her daughter must only eat the bland food in containers in the fridge.
Aisha reminds her about payment and clearly knows Amy needs her help and therefore has the upperhand. Amy retracts but the rule about food is made.
And so when Aisha feeds Rose pasta, Rose pushes the dish off the table causing it to break.
Aisha is mad and Rose gets down to help her clean up. Aisha realizes the kid likes her.
There are more dragging scenes.
But she is being haunted by terrifying visions of water falling from the ceiling, and mold creeps up on it.
At one point, Aisha is fed up of her visions and gets a knife only to almost stab Rose with it. She is horrified by her visions.
And then curious when one night Rose mentions that "he" isn't happy that Aisha is spending so much time with her. When Aisha asks who she is talking about, Rose mentions Lamine.
Malik's mother is sort of a psychic and gives a troubled expression whenever Aisha mentions her son.
Finally, Aisha has earned enough to call her son.
NANNY Ending Explained
Aisha is elated to see her son, and along with Malik, heads out to the airport.
When she doesn't see her son and her cousin who was supposed to accompany Lamine, she heads over to the counter to check.
She is told that everyone has disembarked. Later, Aisha spots her cousin who is standing all alone. She weeps as she tells Aisha that it is her fault for calling Lamine late because before she could, Lamine had drowned at sea.
Apparently it wasn't the cousin's fault who shamelessly took a flight and came.
Aisha has a breakdown and Malik helps her.
In the next minute, the story is quickly wrapped up.
Aisha finds out she is pregnant. She still thinks about Lamine. She has a baby, and she and Malik are happy.
In the end, Aisha heads out to a river and jumps in. Clearly, she still feels guilty about what happened to Lamine. But luckily she is saved.
So...Happy ending?
The movie ends.
NANNY could have been a horror short film and spared us the slow pacing required to make this a full-length feature.
A tighter editing would have made this movie enjoyable and the scary scenes more effective.
Scare Scale:
Check out this movie on Amazon
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