His House is a 2020 horror thriller written and directed by Remi Weekes, inspired by the story written by Felicity Evans and Toby Venables. The film tells the story of a refugee couple, Bol (Sope Dirisu) and Rial (Wunmi Mosaku), who hail from South Sudan. As the two struggle to adjust to life in England, they deal with a possibly supernatural threat that boils just under their new home.
Matt Smith appears in a supporting role as the couple's case worker, Mark.
His House contains examples of:
- An Immigrant's Tale: The whole root of the story is based on South Sudanese refugees fleeing to England in hopes of asylum, and struggling to adjust to a new world.
- Arc Words: "This is our home."
- As You Know: The first time Rial mentions the apeth to Bol, she refers to it almost immediately after as "a night witch", even though he presumably already knows what an apeth is.
- The Atoner: Deconstructed. The couple feel that they have to atone for failing to protect Nyagak and all of the others. Bol tries to deny these feelings at first, but they end up almost consuming him. Ultimately, however, they accept that no self-destructive gesture can bring their friends and family back, and they have the right to go on living - though the grief may never go away.
- Bait-and-Switch: As Bol is walking around the neighborhood, he's approached outside a church by a chavvy-looking guy who says he's "got something" for Bol. The audience is meant to be wary of the character, but it turns out that the church group has put together a welcome package for him.
- Bittersweet Ending: Bol and Rial both survive and they seem to be rekindling their relationship, and despite the state of their new house they are allowed to stay in England. That being said, the movie ends on several shots of their dead family and friends filling the house and staring at them silently; this serves as a reminder to them (and the audience) that the battle with their trauma is far from over.
- Body Horror: The apeth tries to possess Bol's body by burrowing into his skin.
- Boomerang Bigot: Rial approaches a group of black teenage boys to ask for directions, hoping they'll be kinder and more sympathetic than the white neighbours. They make fun of her accent and tell her to "go back to Africa".
- Creepy Child: Nyagak appears to the couple with a creepy mask that looks like her doll, and constantly jumps on Bol to attack him with disturbing speed.
- Curse: Rial believes their terrible luck is revenge from Nyagak for letting her die, and that an apeth, or night witch, is coming to get them.
- Death of a Child: The couple's daughter Nyagak was lost to the war. It turns out, however, that they are not Nyagak's biological parents and that they abducted her to get a ride out of their war-torn village. Still, Rial loved her like a daughter and acted as a replacement mother, so the grief she feels is still quite severe.
- Domestic Abuse: As Bol and Rial become increasingly unhinged from their trauma and their anxiety from their new home, Bol becomes aggressive towards Rial to the point where he traps her in the house to stop her from leaving him, and she hits him over the head to escape. Thankfully, by the end, their relationship is as good as it once was.
- Driven to Suicide: The apeth offers to bring back Nyagak if Bol will kill himself. At the climax of the movie, he is ready to accept the offer, although it's implied that the apeth is lying and would not have kept up its side of the deal.
- Foreshadowing: When trying to adapt to their new life, Bol suggests to Rial that they could start a family, earning a harsh look from her for seeming to forget Nyagak. This is an early clue that Nyagak wasn't their daughter.
- Haunted House: Bol believes the walls of the house are full of ghosts, and punches holes in the wall trying to root them out. He even asks Mark to let them move to another house. Ultimately, subverted, however, as it becomes clear that the house isn't the problem. They could move around all they wanted and the apeth (read: their PTSD and Survivor's Guilt) would follow them wherever they went.
- Immigrant Patriotism: Deconstructed. Bol tries to force himself to be happy about England because he's afraid that everything he and Rial went through, including the loss of Nyagak, was All for Nothing. That being said, it's demonstrated that there isn't much to be patriotic about; while England is not war-torn, it still seems to treat immigrants like Bol and Rial like second-class citizens, and Rial is mocked while walking down the street.
- Implicit Prison: The house comes across this way, with all the strict conditions put upon Bol and Rial's residency. They're allowed to go outside, but they're not allowed to get jobs or supplement their allowance in any way. They're not allowed to have friends over or get a pet. They're not allowed to move without permission.
- Intimidating White Presence:
- Their neighbour comes across as this, an unfriendly white lady who is constantly smoking cigarettes. In her first scene, Bol waves hello to her. She does not wave back. Later, she tells him it would be better if he and Rial just left.
- Mark, their case agent, is clearly trying not to be this, but he is Innocently Insensitive at best. An early comment from him about being "one of the good ones" feeds into Bol's entire complex about proving himself via Immigrant Patriotism.
- The guy mentioned above under Bait-and-Switch turns out to be a completely decent human being, but the scene nonetheless emphasize how very much on-edge Bol is in the strange, mostly-white environment.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The story never concludes whether the events of the story are due to the apeth haunting the couple or whether it is because Bol and Rial are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the story is them coming to terms with it. There is evidence for both.
- New House, New Problems: A rare case where it's the trauma of what brought them to the house, rather than the house itself, that is the problem.
- Kick the Dog: When presented with two refugees who recently escaped, the English refugee agency they are sent to puts them in a shabby dilapidated house with barely functional electricity and water.
- Parental Substitute: Despite Bol and Rial kidnapping her, Nyagak saw Rial as this, although it's likely because she was forced to due to Rial being the closest thing to a parent she had. In contrast, she was somewhat distant with Bol and the curse is mostly out for his blood.
- Slashed Throat: Rial kills the apeth by grabbing it from behind and slitting its throat with a kitchen knife.
- Supernatural-Proof Father: Bol is the focus of most of the supernatural occurrences, since he is the one who feels the greater guilt, but he is firmly in denial about all of it for most of the movie.
- Subverted later on, when Bol taunts the apeth to come directly for his flesh instead of asking others for it, leading him to the conclusion that the apeth can't. He feels bolstered and taunt the apeth...who in turns wishes him good luck for his sleep. Bol loses immediately all of his composure.
- Survivor's Guilt: Bol and Rial are not only guilty of surviving while Nyagak had died, but because practically all of their village was killed, including their other family members and friends. To drive this home, the movie ends with a shot of Nyagak and dozens of other presumed victims of the war crowded in the house, showing that even though they are gone, the memory of them them still haunts Bol and Rial.
- There Are No Therapists: The refugee process Bol and Rial go through never seems to consider the enormous psychological strain they must be under after fleeing a civil war. There's no mention of putting them in touch with a counselor or any kind of support group. Considering the harsh restrictions on the house and the general dismissal when a clearly distressed Bol goes to Mark to ask for a new house, it's likely because they just don't get much consideration at all from the system.
- Vengeful Ghost: Perhaps. Nyagak appears to the couple looking to scare them (especially Bol), but it's not clear if she was actually there or not.
- War Is Hell: Bol and Rial suffer the aftermath of the horrors of war, including the loss of their daughter, and the loss of both of their entire villages.
- Wicked Witch: The apeth is referred to as a witch, but looks more like a walking corpse with long, spindly limbs and a sinister leer. It's portrayed by veteran rubber monster actor Javier Botet.
