Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Nanny Blu-ray Movie Review

Succumbing to America.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III January 4, 2024

A decently effective personal drama hurt by genre expectations and a questionable ending, Nikyatu Jusu's Nanny was well-received at Sundance 2022, nabbed the Grand Jury Prize, and was soon touted as the first "horror film" to win it. Those quotation marks are important: it's their words, not mine, as Nanny is by no means a horror film in the vein of Friday the 13th or even It Follows. This is psychological horror in the loosest sense, following its central character Aisha (Anna Diop) as both she and her employer drift towards various ends of the sanity spectrum, and some of its sporadic unsettling imagery feels more like an afterthought to perhaps justify the film's vague, disappointing coda.

There's still a lot to like about Nanny and, for what it's worth, the bulk of its largely engaging narrative is told from a unique perspective that's supported by excellent casting. Our window into this world is Senegalese immigrant Aisha (Anna Diop), who's just started a coveted nanny job for a wealthy family in New York. Her employer is matriarch Amy (Michelle Monaghan), a helicopter mother who judiciously controls almost everything in the life of her eight year-old daughter Rose (Rose Decker). A hard-working career woman, Amy has laid out strict ground rules and seems skeptical of Aisha's ability to nurture Rose, a notoriously picky eater who may or may not be receptive to French lessons and/or discipline from an outside source. But little Rose warms up to her new nanny almost immediately, and it's no surprise why: kindly Aisha was not only a teacher back home but also a loving mother to young Lamine, who's temporarily being raised by his aunt Mariatou until enough money can be raised for their one-way plane tickets.

This American Dream sounds easy enough, but naturally complications arise. It becomes increasingly clear that Amy is emotionally unstable, not to mention possibly financially strapped: Aisha is often asked to work extra hours and even the occasional overnight on a moment's notice, sacrificing other priorities -- including her social life -- for time on the job that she might not get paid for unless she speaks up loudly. Amy's often-traveling husband Adam (Morgan Spector) returns from another international photography trip, where it becomes obvious that their relationship is strained and he has wandering eyes. Finances may or may not be at the root of these problems, but Aisha seems determined to tough it out and save enough cash to reunite her own family rather than struggle to raise someone else's.

Detours are made during this otherwise focused and linear story, and some work a little better than others. The most notable is a brief respite from constant work involving handsome Malik (Sinqua Walls), a charismatic single dad who Aisha meets around the neighborhood; it's not long before they go out on a date and she even gets to know his sweet mother Kathleen (Leslie Uggams), who's more than familiar with Aisha's home continent and offers her a strong dose of much-needed emotional support. But challenges on the job eventually prove impossible to overcome, and eventually poor Aisha -- who has been struggling with occasional unsettling visions, many involving water or drowning -- begins to have more frequent waking nightmares, one of which puts Rose in harm's way during a trip to the park.

Nanny would be fine if it stopped there, reining in its short and sporadic ventures into psychological horror more tightly, but their higher frequency immediately puts viewers into investigation mode. Sadly, the third act and rushed conclusion of Nanny don't hold up to investigation: without entering spoiler territory, one late-period development throws a wrench into Aisha's plan, but it feels sloppy and isn't explained much (if at all) and is quickly smoothed over by an idyllic coda that stands in stark contrast with the measured, thoughtful, and sharp narrative that dominates its first hour. Endings can certainly make or break this type of film... and while I certainly wouldn't consider Nanny "broken" as-is, it leaves something of a bitter aftertaste for this otherwise capable first-time effort from its writer/director, who has surrounded herself with a great cast and crew that, in most areas, make this low-budget film feel bigger than expected.

For a slightly more favorable take on the main feature, please see Brian Orndof's theatrical review.

Nanny Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Cinematographer Rina Yang's work on Nanny should have almost gotten her a co-director credit: the artful framing, excellent lighting choices, and extremely bold color palette combine to make this a visually memorable experience. All are represented very well on Criterion's Blu-ray, which really should have had a separate 4K edition due to the film's unusually hypnotic appearance. Image detail runs somewhat soft by design, due to several intentional visual choices including one of the two primary Panavision lenses that shows a drop-off in clarity around the edges to heighten a key character's descent into instability. Colors are deep and rich, from turquoise elements of the family apartment to the bold red of a dress picked out for Aisha, as well as an extremely diverse range of hues used for lighting -- and this is just in the primary location. Black levels and shadow detail are rendered nicely with very few compression artifacts, such as banding or macro blocking; the latter is a regular speed bump on Criterion Blu-rays, but luckily the smaller amount of content here gives the main feature more than enough room to breathe on a dual-layered disc.

Nanny Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix plays as expected given the subject matter: it's mostly a straight human drama confined to small indoor locations with occasional dips into more stylish and artful territory. The former yields satisfying and crisp results, with cleanly-recorded dialogue regardless of dialect, while the latter occasionally ventures into the rear channels for more intense emotional results. It's pretty sparing with these "outside ventures", as the wide majority of Nanny aims for a standard front-forward soundstage that, under the circumstances, gets the job done and sounds very good for a modestly-budgeted production. Volume levels are generally well-balanced with a strong dynamic range, while select song cues (some diegetic, some not) infrequently overpower everything else for dramatic effect.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only.

Nanny Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in Criterion's typically stocky keepcase with cover artwork that plays up the (potentially misleading) horror elements, continuing on the inside with a bleak and foreboding interior design. The fold-out insert includes the studio's usual A/V notes, special thanks, a cast/crew list, and a short essay by Vulture film critic Angelica Jade Bastién. Bonus features are unfortunately minimal for a Criterion release.

• Truth and Terror (16:51) - Edited from 2022 interviews filmed by Amazon Studios, this short piece features writer/director Nikyatu Jusu, actors Anna Dip and Michelle Monaghan, and director of photography Rina Yang. It's decently engaging and covers the usual topics considering the people involved (the creative process, characters, cinematography, etc.) but is unfortunately very light on information about the story and specific themes, which leaves more than a few nagging questions unanswered. Why no audio commentary for this one?

• Suicide by Sunlight (17:08) - Writer/director Nikyatu Jusu's 2018 short film about a black vampire struggling to gain custody of her two half-human daughters. It's visually interesting and decent enough, but no Blade.

• Trailer (1:55) - This promo clip (complete with "Prime Video" watermark) can also be seen here.

Nanny Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Nikyatu Jusu's Nanny is a uniquely intense drama with many glaring flaws but a lot in its favor, including great casting and cinematography, yet has received quite a bit of backlash since its 2022 debut. Some of it is justified: though billed as a psychological horror film, the scares and dread are inconsistent in their effectiveness and, in some cases, feel like an afterthought to cover up its unsatisfying ending. (The remainder of this backlash may stem from its Grand Jury Prize win at Sundance that year, which surely increased viewer expectations that undoubtedly were heightened even further by its recent inclusion in the Criterion Collection.) I was fairly lukewarm to it as a whole but Nanny certainly has merit, which includes the laser-focused portrayal and perspective of its very real characters. It's perhaps worth a revisit and maybe even a re-evaluation someday, but for now somewhat disappoints on Criterion's Blu-ray; not for the technical presentation, but its threadbare bonus features for the asking price. Try before you buy, surely.