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The Man in My Basement

Play trailer 1:55 Poster for The Man in My Basement R 1h 55m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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36% Tomatometer 14 Reviews Popcornmeter 0 Verified Ratings
In the African American neighborhood of Sag Harbor, New York, Charles Blakey (Corey Hawkins) is out of work, out of luck and on the verge of foreclosure on his ancestral home. A knock on the door from a mysterious businessman, Anniston Bennet (Willem Dafoe), brings a bizarre and lucrative proposition; rent his dusty stand-up basement out for the summer and receive enough money to clear his debts for good. Once Charles accepts, he finds himself led down a terrifying path that confronts his family's ghosts and locks the men in a terrifying puzzle, at the heart of it race, the source of their traumas and the root of all evil.

Cast & Crew

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Nadia Latif

Director

Corey Hawkins

Actor

Willem Dafoe

Actor

Anna Diop

Actor

Jonathan Ajayi

Actor

Gershwyn Eustache Jnr

Actor

Critics Reviews

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Brian Tallerico RogerEbert.com Watching these two performers grapple with a text as rich as Mosley’s only leads one back to wishing the film around them trusted them enough to take more risks and to really go somewhere other than the first floor. Rated: 2/4 Sep 8, 2025 Full Review Kate Erbland IndieWire The devil isn’t just on the screen, it’s in the details, and Latif’s film can’t pull those together. Rated: C+ Sep 6, 2025 Full Review Chase Hutchinson TheWrap Each empty bump in the night lands with a dull thud. Even a terrifying dog that becomes crucial to the film has a bark that’s worse than its bite. Sep 6, 2025 Full Review Warren Cantrell The Playlist Magnetic, lived-in performances by the leads bolster the effort and keep it interesting, but the production consistently over-promises and under-delivers throughout its torturous 110-minute runtime. Rated: C- Sep 9, 2025 Full Review Maitland McDonagh MaitlandOnMovies (Substack) [T]he shifting psychological/sociopolitical landscape [is] clear but not overstated... Kudos to the cast, notably Dafoe and Hawkins; if the story had been played as a spare two-hander...in a single room I suspect they could have made it equally compelling Sep 9, 2025 Full Review Jamie Broadnax Black Girl Nerds What sets The Man in My Basement apart is its willingness to wrestle with big, uncomfortable questions. At its heart, the film is about power — who has it, how it’s wielded, and the damage it inflicts. Rated: 3.5/5 Sep 9, 2025 Full Review Read all reviews
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The Man in My Basement

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The Man in My Basement

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Movie Info

Synopsis In the African American neighborhood of Sag Harbor, New York, Charles Blakey (Corey Hawkins) is out of work, out of luck and on the verge of foreclosure on his ancestral home. A knock on the door from a mysterious businessman, Anniston Bennet (Willem Dafoe), brings a bizarre and lucrative proposition; rent his dusty stand-up basement out for the summer and receive enough money to clear his debts for good. Once Charles accepts, he finds himself led down a terrifying path that confronts his family's ghosts and locks the men in a terrifying puzzle, at the heart of it race, the source of their traumas and the root of all evil.
Director
Nadia Latif
Producer
Diane Houslin, John Giwa-Amu, Dave Bishop, Len Rowles
Screenwriter
Walter Mosley, Nadia Latif
Distributor
Hulu
Production Co
Andscape
Rating
R
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 12, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 25, 2025
Runtime
1h 55m