Issue 34
Vanishing Points

Visual and metafictional strategies for the reclamation of a legacy in 'Candyman' (Nia DaCosta, 2021)

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  • Alejandro López Lizana
Alejandro López Lizana
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Bio
DOI: https://doi.org/10.63700/964

Published 2022-07-01

Keywords

  • <em>Candyman</em>,
  • Legend,
  • Memory,
  • Legacy,
  • Sequel,
  • Slasher,
  • Horror,
  • Metafiction.
    • ...More
    Less

How to Cite

López Lizana, A. (2022). Visual and metafictional strategies for the reclamation of a legacy in ’Candyman’ (Nia DaCosta, 2021). L’Atalante. Journal of Film Studies, (34), 227–240. https://doi.org/10.63700/964

Copyright (c) 2022 L'Atalante. Journal of film studies

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Abstract

In 1992, Candyman (Bernard Rose) made history by featuring the first African American villain in a big slasher production. Nearly thirty years later, Jordan Peele and Nia DaCosta have brought back the killer with the hook to explore the current state of the fight against racism in the United States. This article explores the ways in which the new Candyman (Nia DaCosta, 2021) leverages its status as a sequel to examine the notions of legacy and memory inherent both in the Candyman legend and in the reclamation of the stories of victims of racist violence. It is argued that the film uses its place in the saga, the conventions of the slasher genre, and the visual mythology originally established by Rose to create an intricate metafictional game exploring the problems of confronting a traumatic past. Central to this discussion is the motif of the mirror, whose importance to the story is related to the numerous narrative and visual parallels between the two films, and to the call made to the audience to reflect on an uncomfortable reality that is given an enduring form through art.

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