[Film Review] Kandisha (2021)

Do you ever wish you could call on some supernatural being to wreak vengeance on your behalf? You know it won’t end well, don’t you? In Kandisha, a teenage girl does exactly that, and of course she did not know what she was walking into. That’s not to say this film is predictable, no; granted, there is a degree of inevitability to the carnage this spirit delivers, but the characters and setting are so naturalistic and believable that nothing in Kandisha feels too neatly played. (Well, except for one thing, but I’ll come to that much later.)

One by one, we meet three close friends, living in a Paris suburb: Bintou (Suzy Bemba), Morjana (Samarcande Saadi) and Amélie (Mathilde Lamusse). The summer holiday means aimless days, and nights spent with music, weed and graffiti in a condemned building. They tell stories and swap gossip, affectionately teasing each other with racial slurs and stereotypes, but that diversity within their small group seems to add to their strength. When Amélie uncovers the name Kandisha printed on a wall, Morjana knows the Moroccan legend it refers to:

She’s the ghost of a beautiful woman who destroys men.

If she’s called to seek revenge on you

Or you cross her in the night

She’ll drive you insane and kill you.

They fool around with the story and nothing happens; but when Amélie’s ex catches her on the way home and takes a very aggressive exception to her rejection, she calls on Aicha Kandisha (Mériem Sarolie) with real feeling this time. Amélie’s ex doesn’t last the night.

Kandisha takes about twenty minutes to kick off (in an action sense), but those opening scenes give us the chance to get to know the key characters: they have a similar laid-back outlook on life, different cultural backgrounds, though a very strong bond, even a strong liking for each other’s families. We also get that “nutshell” about the vengeful ghost; but then the three young women themselves don’t learn any more than that until it is too late, either: Aicha Kandisha doesn’t stop at just one fatal “accident”.

Written and directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo (Inside/L’Interieur, Livid/Livide), and if these names are familiar to you, you won’t be surprised to read that Kandisha’s vendetta is both gruesome and horribly realistic. Kandisha has a similar pacing---with true tension in between violent set pieces---as was found in Inside; and a blend of real world with fantastical as seen in Livid. That blend---when the ghost reveals herself and lets rip---is incredibly effective: she may have animal legs, and supernatural strength, but she still comes across as genuinely belonging in that setting. Simon Roca’s cinematography combined with the gritty sets give the entire film a realism which is frankly painful in parts (though thankfully not quite as acutely painful as I found Inside).

Although the three central characters are young women, and the spirit of Kandisha apparently targets men, it’s interesting that neither gender politics nor stereotypes play much part in the story. The plot happens to be about women because that’s who they happen to be… and naturally that’s the hook to the legend. None of the three play to standard female tropes such as victim, slut or man-hater; indeed for the most part (apart from the one misogynist whose ego was the catalyst to the invocation), they have no problem with the men in their lives. I found it refreshing to watch a film with distinctly male and female elements to the dramatis personae in which there was such little sexism or glamorisation of the gender roles.

So if the war of the sexes is not a key theme (as I initially assumed it would be), what is? Perhaps heritage: just as it is almost impossible to escape the violence of Kandisha, whose origin lies in bloody history, there is no getting away from one’s cultural background either. She felt to me like an embodiment of a brutal past that features in many cultures, and the modern Paris in the film seems to cover up layers of history just as the imam’s carpets cover up ancient symbols and posters cover Kandisha’s name. History is always there, cannot be ignored, and viewers who feel their own culture is being erased by the present may relate.

That tone of certain doom which I alluded to earlier is unrelenting in Kandisha, during quiet and action-packed scenes alike. It’s on everyone’s faces. The acting throughout is striking, notable especially as this is the first film role for both Bemba and Saadi; the fear and affection alike seem real in everyone. Beware the gore though: it’s not just extreme, but varied; sometimes messy, sometimes casual. The violence isn’t constant by any means---there is more than enough character and drama to fill the film---but some people might appreciate a content warning for injury towards an animal.

I did have a minor issue with the appearance of the animal/woman spirit when she got close enough to look at properly. At a distance, surrounded by her cape and smoke she was much more effective. The rest of the film was more than engaging enough that this didn’t bother me too much, fortunately. The ending, however, was a bigger issue. When there is something spooky on a mission, whether it is the Candyman, a Cenobite or the stuff of real legend, I’m sure there is only a limited number of ways to end a tale. The ending of Kandisha felt hasty, almost stuck on to the script as though someone different had written it; which is odd for a film that flowed so well otherwise, and especially as the conclusion was given a little foreshadowing (so brief mind you that I didn’t notice at all at first).

That ending did put a little downer on the film for me at first, but after a day or two I found it hadn’t put me off watching it again (or indeed writing about it). Kandisha is a memorable film, regardless of the (very few) flaws. I’m going to look out for these young actors, and definitely looking forward to Maury and Bustillo’s next film, The Deep House.

Kandisha, a Shudder Original Film, premieres 22 July 2021, available on Shudder US, Shudder CA, Shudder UKI and Shudder ANZ.

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