试图处理一切“大师”的思想，这可能是一种不舒服的经历。但不适不仅仅是玛丽亚·塞洛的聪明和伤心的第一个特征：这是恐怖电影的整个存在状态。南日电影节入口来到亚马逊Prime视频，并在3月18日星期五选择剧院。
Inspired by weird things she encountered while studying at Yale University, Diallo’s movie finds embedded racism in every room and hallway of an institution where it should have been eradicated by now: a New England liberal arts college as old as the nation itself. An undercurrent of sexism is there too — a witch was executed on the campus’ site — and Diallo works out that legacy in a subtler but most disturbing way.
While the film’s title purposely calls to mind the time of slavery, “master” was an actual position that Yale has since renamed. It’s a faculty member responsible for the well-being of a residence building’s students. Soon-to-be Oscars co-host Regina Hall plays one of them here, Ancaster College Professor Gail Bishop. She’s the first Black woman given the honor and the responsibility, and all the white masters can’t stop mentioning what a positive, important thing that is.
盖尔在新生Jasmine Moore（Zoe Renee）中看到了一点，这是学院最新的八个颜色学生。茉莉花是她郊区塔科马高中的Valedictorian，习惯于白人孩子被接受。但是，CANCASS学生的身体似乎已经出现了一个大型微产孵化场，并且几乎所有茉莉花所做的一切都是满足某种形式的不尊重。
Ancaster’s other Black professor, Liv Beckman (Amber Gray), singles out Jasmine too, giving her a failing grade for an apparently fine paper on “The Scarlet Letter.” To top it all off, Jasmine is assigned to the same dorm room where the ghost of that witch has legendarily driven students — especially Black girls — to suicide.
A sleepwalker, Jasmine has frightening nightmares (or are they?) that conflate supernatural terror with the hate she’s been given. Gail also experiences hallucinations, most significantly a weeping maid from the past whom Gail frets might represent her true position in the school’s hierarchy. The more radical Liv has her own issues, including a demeaning tenure fight and, perhaps, a secret past.
Diallo keeps many of these elements ambiguous, even when such blunt symbols of white supremacy as a burning cross and lynching noose appear. Will we ever learn who left those awful things? There’s also a strange sect of people nearby, trying to live like it’s still the 17th century. They’re creepy but mainly there to represent how some things never really change.
While lighting and shadows contribute to a scary atmosphere, and Diallo knows how to deliver visceral shocks, her fright-genre theatrics distract from the film’s social commentary as often as they enhance it (a tour by white parents of Jasmine’s dorm is particularly unnerving). The satire of academia leans toward the ham-fisted, but there is some good, intentional humor elsewhere.
“Master,” though, isn’t the kind of slick mashup “Get Out” has conditioned us to expect from smart Black horror.
This is a messier, more grieving work. While most of the supporting characters border on caricature, Gail, Jasmine and Liv are fully realized and well-acted women dealing with specific personal demons. They tell their stories by how they wear their hair, the amount of welling in their eyes and the considered words they use — and sometimes fail to find.
可能最冷淡的“大师”的事情是它的三个主角的要求和需要彼此支持，但最终不能因为内部和外力而导致。
L“掌握”：Horror. Starring Regina Hall, Zoe Renee and Amber Gray. Directed by Mariama Diallo. (R. 91 minutes.) In select Bay Area theaters and available to stream on Amazon Prime Video starting Friday, March 18.