Sundance Film Festival 2022 Premiere – NANNY is one haunting piece of filmmaking. An immigrant from Senegal, Aisha (Anna Diop) is living in New York working to lay the foundation for a better life. Back home, her young son is being taken care of by her sister, Sarah (Ebbe Bassey). The three stay connected through video calls but the ultimate plan is to bring her son to the United States. When Aisha becomes a nanny for a rich white couple, maternal longing and creatures from African mythology invade her everyday life, threatening to upend her careful path to a brighter future. Nikyatu Jusu writes and directs one of the more outstanding films to arrive through Sundance this year exploring the emotional connections that bind us to our respective tethers.

At first Aisha’s new boss, Amy (Michelle Monaghan) is a warm, but perhaps meticulous businesswoman. Aisha arrives for the first day of work and is handed a binder of tasks and information that will assist her in taking care of young Rose (Rose Decker). We also learn that Amy’s husband Adam (Morgan Spector) is a photographer out on assignment but is coming home soon. Aisha is given room to use for the rare occasion that she might need to stay overnight and is told to make it her own. Aisha even forms a friendship with charming lobby attendant Malik (Sinqua Walls). So, new job, new life, potential romance, things are looking up.

Then things start to get weird. At first, Aisha finds a shower running for no reason while looking for Rose in the expansive home. Haunting nightmares ensue of her bedroom being flooded. Next visions of mermaids, spiders and snakes arrive. What is she being told? Are these creatures there to help her or harm her? A helpful word from Malik’s grandmother Kathleen (Leslie Uggams) warns her that the signs may be there to harm her. Will the mental spiral put Aisha’s furture in jepordy?

Nikyatu Jusu delivers her debut feature  that heralds the arrival of a fierce new talent. From a writing standpoint the script is sound with elegant echos and motifs. Rina Yang‘s vibrant photography capture some dazzling moments and telegraph to the audience moments of nightmarish dread or dreamlike euphoria. One of the biggest strengths the film has though is the lead. Diop carries the film with amazing capability. Her range is acceptional as she navigates the challenges thrown her way. There are moments of true, luminous joy and moments of devestating anquish, all honestly played.

Ultimately however, this is Jusu’s arrival and what an entrance it is. No it’s not perfect. There could have been a few trims here or there with a few subplots that seem to go nowhere but that isn’t anything that weighs the film down too much. What I can say is NANNY a mesmerizing showcase of talent both in front of and behind the camera.

7 Out of 10