‘His House’: A Terrifying And Powerful Haunted House Movie On Netflix

Remi Weekes’ powerful debut horror feature, His House, was released on October 30 on Netflix
NFLX
. Produced by New Regency, Vertigo Entertainment, and Starchild Picture in association with BBC Films, this is exactly the kind of quality film that Netflix needs. His House is a terrifyingly disturbing film that will move you to tears.

A young refugee couple, who have made a harrowing escape from war-torn South Sudan, struggle to settle in to their new lives in a small English town. A menacing presence is lurking inside the house they have just moved to.

Directed and written by Remi Weekes, from a story by Felicity Evans and Toby Venables, His House features two incredible actors Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù (Gangs of London) and Wunmi Mosaku (Lovecraft Country).

The film opens with images of Bol (Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù) holding a young girl in his arms. They jump into the back of a truck, joining Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) who tells the girl she will protect her. They next find themselves on a boat at night. Bol wakes from his dream, telling his wife that he was dreaming of their wedding day. “Explains the screams,” she replies.

Bol and Rial are at a refugee center and are being released from detention. They have been assigned a house to live in, a house, the officer points out, from which they cannot move out from. The officer, however, insists that they are being released on bail, not as citizens. The harshness and coldness from officers towards asylum seekers is here made emphasized in the staging of this scene. The couple are not even given the time to rejoice in the prospect of leaving the center.

The house is shabby, on the brink of being derelict, with rubbish covering the front garden, but the space inside is big and most importantly it is now theirs. At night, Bol can hear a girl humming and odd noises seem to come from the walls. Something seems to be scurrying inside the walls of the living room. A crow flies out.

On another night, the wallpaper in the living room unpeels itself revealing a big gaping hole. As Bol pulls what seems to be an electrical wire, it suddenly changes into a boat rope covered in seaweed. It is his past and their distressing escape from South Sudan that is haunting Bol, triggered by the unfamiliar sounds of this new neighborhood that feels less than welcoming.

The film shows Bol and Rial to have a completely different approach to the noises in the house. Bol frantically searches for their origin, smashing further holes in the wall with a hammer. Rial, by contrast, remains calm and composed, understanding that they have been cursed, in her opinion. She believes an apeth, a night witch, has followed them to their new home, and they must now repay their debt.

Remi Weekes delivers a beautifully crafted horror film. The jump scares are never done lightly in this film. Each footstep heard and lurking shadows that disappear once the light is turned on have been carefully choreographed by Weekes to scare the viewer effectively. Each jump scares as terrifying as the next, slowly filling in the gaps of Bol and Rial’s mysterious past.

His House is slow in revealing the extent of this couple’s trauma, but when it does, it is a hauntingly devastating moment. As Rial says to Bol, towards the beginning of the movie, after what she has lived through in South Sudan and on their journey to England, why would she be afraid of ghosts. This really says it all. What they experience in the house is but an echo of the real horrors they endured.

His House is now on Netflix.