PLOT: Charles Blakey, an African American man living in Sag Harbor, is stuck in a rut, out of luck and about to lose his ancestral home when a peculiar white businessman with a European accent offers to rent his basement for the summer.
REVIEW: Book adaptations can be a tough nut to crack, especially when dealing with more intense themes. It’s really about getting the right people in place to tell the story and, even then, sometimes it just doesn’t work out. That’d be a good way to describe The Man in My Basement: a movie with good intentions that just doesn’t fully realize its potential. It’s really too bad, as I’ve heard that Walter Mosley’s book, which it’s based upon, is a pretty decent read.
The Man in My Basement follows Charles Blakey (Hawkins), a man who hasn’t worked for some time and is in danger of losing his house. But when a mysterious man (Dafoe) shows up and offers him money to rent out his basement, his predicament may be saved. Only he doesn’t put all his cards on the table, and has different intentions for his stay in the basement. And get ready for a long wait until this reveal, because the film really takes its time in developing the story. I don’t mind a slow burn, but when other elements are handled so sloppily, it makes the buildup all the more frustrating.
Corey Hawkins has been one of those actors that I’ve just been waiting to breakout in a big way as he always fantastic in his various roles, whether it’s as Dre in Straight Out of Compton or Clemens in The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Charles Blakey is another intriguing role for the actor, if not for the sole fact that he’s a deeply flawed human being. Charles is deeply unlikable, not having a job, and letting his ancestral home be in danger of being taken away. And he constantly makes terrible decisions that seem to contradict his motivations. Hawkins does a great job, but the character is just constantly in his own way. Not great qualities for a lead that gets most of the runtime.
It’s damn near impossible to be a fan of cinema and not love Willem Dafoe. He always does such a phenomenal job and is a highlight. But here, he’s simply…there. The character of Anniston Bennet is intriguing at times, and frustratingly vague in others. His interactions with Hawkins are intriguing in first, but often go in circles, hitting the same points every time. The story seems to want to make a point with him, while never really nailing it home. Everyone else just kind of blends together, and the film mostly seems focused on Charles and his story. Which wouldn’t be a bad thing if it actually committed to any of the ideas that it merely hints at. Director Nadia Latif feels tentative about committing to the theme of complacency or even guilt.
It’s also increasingly frustrating with how the film handles its horror, if you can even call it that. Random editing flourishes and lazy jump scares do most of the heavy lifting, with this really falling more under the thriller category. But with a name like “The Man in My Basement”, you kind of expect a bit more from that concept. I know I did.
The Man in My Basement plays with themes of race and guilt, but never sticks with anything long enough to matter. It tries to shoehorn a message in that feels very disconnected from the actual events of the film. Focus is put in the wrong areas, and it often feels lacking in truth. Good performances from Hawkins and Dafoe aren’t able to save what is an otherwise dull affair.
THE MAN IN THE BASEMENT RELEASES TO THEATERS ON SEPTEMBER 12TH, 2025.
