We bet you won’t be willing to say Candyman five times in your mirror after watching the newest promo for executive producer Jordan Peele’s upcoming “spiritual sequel” to the 1992 classic. The film’s latest teaser reminds us that the legendary killer doesn’t just represent one person. He is the embodiment of suffering that dates back generations.
And a “story like that, pain like that,” lasts forever. Especially when it still continues to this day.
The newest, chilling promo for the upcoming entry in the Candyman franchise mixes in footage from the film with some of the stunning paper puppetry from the film’s stunning recent short. Directed by Nia DaCosta (Little Woods), the sequel isn’t just a reboot or relaunch of a horror series. It’s, unfortunately, a timely tale about how white violence has caused—and continues to—harm Black Americans with untold suffering.
Candyman isn’t a legend. He’s not even just a supernatural killer. He’s a coping mechanism for the Black community. “Candyman is how we deal with the fact that these things happened. That they’re still happening.”
Monkeypaw ProductionsThe film stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Watchmen, Us) as visual artist Anthony McCoy. He moves to Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighborhood with his gallery director girlfriend Brianna (If Beale Street Could Talk‘s Teyonah Parris). It’s been ten years since the last Cabrini towers were torn down. The couple’s fancy new gentrified luxury condo stands in the same place where the Candyman legend was once spoken of. Not everyone forgets though, and shiny new buildings can’t replace the pain that was once experienced there.
“With Anthony’s painting career on the brink of stalling, a chance encounter with a Cabrini Green old-timer (Colman Domingo; HBO’s Euphoria, Assassination Nation) exposes Anthony to the tragically horrific nature of the true story behind Candyman. Anxious to maintain his status in the Chicago art world, Anthony begins to explore these macabre details in his studio as fresh grist for paintings, unknowingly opening a door to a complex past that unravels his own sanity and unleashes a terrifying wave of violence that puts him on a collision course with destiny.”
You can look at America with an old mirror or a new one. The reflection is still the same. Candyman is scheduled to arrive in theaters this September.
Featured Image: Monkeypaw Productions