Three Parisian female graffiti writers summon a vengeful succubus in a movie that draws inspiration equally from Candyman and Moroccan fireside folklore
Western nations have been slow to use cinema to confront the modern-day legacy of colonialism – but perhaps France’s especially acrimonious decolonisation means the ripples are felt more violently in that country’s films than most. After the invisible threat in Michael Haneke’s Hidden, and the somnambulist sway of 2019’s Zombi Child, the French postcolonial movie goes all the way to full horror in this raw but forceful banlieue-set film which draws equal inspiration from Candyman and Moroccan fireside folklore.
Nicking the “black-blanc-beur” (black-white-north African) setup of La Haine, the protagonists are Amélie (Mathilde Lamusse), Bintou (Suzy Bemba) and Morjana (Samarcande Saadi) – three girl graffiti artists who live in a
Paris estate and convene in a lofty, derelict block to smoke gear, dance to trap and tag walls. After Amélie escapes a rape attempt by her ex, she draws a pentagram in her own blood on her bathroom tiles and invokes Aisha Kandisha, a demonic mythological figure from Morocco whose name the trio uncovered in the tower block.