The new 2022 film Nanny, which is currently streaming on Prime Video, combines the genuine terror of the American immigrant experience with otherworldly horror. What could be more terrifying than the thought that the American Dream will never come true?
Nanny, written and directed by Nikyatu Jusu in her debut as a feature-length director, was a critical success when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Critics lauded the performance of Senegalese-American actor Anna Diop in the lead role, despite their reservations about the film’s bizarre and dreamlike premise.
Since Sundance 2022, cinephiles have been hearing about the film Nanny; now, they can view it on Prime Video. Don’t worry if you got lost or confused along the way; Decider is here to help. Continue reading for a detailed synopsis of the Nanny film’s narrative and an explanation of the film’s conclusion.
The plot of the movie Nanny is explained:
Aisha (Anna Diop) is a Senegalese immigrant who is employed as a nanny on New York’s Upper East Side to care for the couple’s baby, Rose. Lamine, Aisha’s son, is still in Senegal in the care of Mariatou, her cousin. Aisha is attempting to save money for plane tickets to New York for her son and her cousin.
The nanny position begins well. However, Rose’s mother Amy (Michelle Monaghan) begins arriving home progressively later. Amy begins “forgetting” to pay Aisha what she owes, and she no longer stocks the refrigerator with food. Aisha begins feeding Rose Senegalese cuisine, which Rose seemed to enjoy. Adam, Rose’s father (Morgan Spector), is more reliable when it comes to paying Aisha, but he is unwilling to be in charge of the money. Additionally, he attempts to kiss Aisha, which is quite awful.
The late hours make it difficult for Aisha to FaceTime with her son, particularly after her cousin began avoiding her calls. However, it’s not all bad. Aisha meets and begins dating the beautiful front desk security guard Malik through her employment (Sinqua Walls). Aisha encounters Malik’s grandmother, who informs her about Mami Wati, an African mermaid spirit who “lures sexuality, wealth, and reproductive promises.” Aisha believes she encountered Mami Wata in the Hudson River. It is just one of the bizarre, disturbing sights Aisha begins to have.
Aisha has dreams in which spiders climb into her mouth and up the walls after Rose reads her a book about Anansi the Spider. She also has reoccurring nightmares in which she drowns and suffocates in the guest bedroom, where Amy begs her to sleep “overnights.” This may be partially explained by the black mold growing on the walls of the guest rooms, which can create brain fog, confusion, and even hallucinations.
After Aisha blacks out in a public pool and has a vision of a mermaid, she seeks advice from Malik’s grandma. Grandma explains to Aisha that both Anansi and Mami Wata are “figures of struggle and survival for oppressed people.” They attack the established order through disorder.” Grandma responds that Aisha should be asking what the spirits can accomplish for her rather than what the spirits demand from her.
Amy asks Aisha to do another overnight, and Aisha accepts on the condition that she be paid twice as much. That night, Aisha had a terrible hallucination in which she holds a knife over Rose in the bathtub. Rose is uninjured, and the child informs Aisha that Lamine influenced Aisha’s behavior. He is envious, says Rose. “Anansi told me.”
Explanation of the film’s conclusion
Aisha finally gets enough money to purchase plane tickets for Lamine and her cousin, Mariatou, following the overnight. She eagerly awaits the arrival of her son at the airport gate, but he never arrives. After scouring the airport, she dials Mariatou’s cell phone and finds her waiting outside for a cab by herself. Aisha confronts her cousin and inquires about Lamine’s whereabouts. Mariatou admits that Lamine died by drowning in the ocean. She had not known how to tell Aisha the news.
Aisha returns to the area on the Hudson River where she had previously seen Mami Wata. Aisha, weighing herself down with a heavy bag, steps off the dock and commits suicide by drowning, the same way her kid died. (This echoes her numerous nightmares of drowning.) Aisha has a vision of her son floating on the water’s surface as she sinks to the river’s bottom. She attempts to swim to him and is then brought to the surface by Mami Wata. When she regains consciousness, she is surrounded by EMT rescue workers, Malik, and Malik’s grandma on the dock. Aisha is pregnant, therefore Aisha’s grandmother warns the EMTs to be cautious.
In rapid succession, we show Aisha pregnant with Malik’s child, the infant, and Aisha laughing with Malik and their family. In the final shot of the film, Aisha can be seen curled up on her side in the bathtub, resembling a fetus. The subtext is that Aisha can construct a new life in the United States with her new family, but that she will always be tormented by the ghost of her son Lamine.
The audience must judge whether Aisha was actually haunted by the spirits of Anansi and Mami Wata or whether it was all in her brain. Nanny is ultimately less of a horror film and more of a drama with scary overtones. Similar to the actual immigrant experience.
»Amazon Prime’s Horror Film ‘Nanny’ Concludes In Tragedy, Explanation«