I caught the Amazon Studios Film Nanny on the second to last day of the 2022 Nashville Film Festival. The movie will hit select theaters on November 23 and Prime Video on December 16. Below is my review of the film.
Written and Directed by Nikyatu Jusu
Starring Anna Diop, Michelle Monaghan, Singqua Wallas
Plot: Immigrant nanny Aisha, piecing together a new life in New York City while caring for the child of an Upper East Side family, is forced to confront a concealed truth that threatens to shatter her precarious American Dream.
I had heard plenty of hype surrounding Nanny since I missed it at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. However, I finally caught it at the Nashville Film Festival, and I am so glad I missed it earlier in the year because seeing it on the big screen was a game changer.
While the film starts a little slow, as it progresses, you begin to understand what writer/director Nikyatu Jusu was trying to do. First, she introduces us to Aisha (Anna Diop), who is trying to make a living to afford to bring her son over to America. Next, as things start to unfold, we find out more about Aisha, highlighting some of the adversity she is facing. Finally, when the time comes, the world around her starts to collapse.
Jusu does an incredible job of layering this film so that you are sucked into this story of Aisha. You have a mother willing to do whatever it takes, put up with crap from crappy people, and do the job no one wants to get her son to this country. It was witnessing this “American Dream” unfold in front of our eyes, and we watched the pitfalls of being an immigrant in this country. It was powerful, poignant, and some of the best writing we have seen this year.
Speaking of Aisha, Anna Diop gives one of the most profound performances in one of the most challenging roles of the year. How she could bring Aisha to life within every moment of this film was genuinely captivating. Diop’s work should be on everyone’s radar moving forward, and I hope this results in her breaking out into more and more roles because she was incredible.
Another stand out from the film is that you will find very few films this year that will visually take your breath away the way that Nanny did. Rina Yang’s color palette is mesmerizing, haunting, and yet beautiful at the same time. I was blown away by her work, and I HOPE people recognize her for it.
Overall, Nanny is hands down one of the best movies of the year, and it’s the type of film that will linger around in my head for days, even months later. Incredible job from everyone involved in this project, and if you have the opportunity to catch this in theaters, please do because it plays tremendously on the big screen.
The Music City Drive-In 