“The catalyst for Nanny is pieces of my mother’s story,” said writer/ director Nikyatu Jusu of her film. It is not an autobiography. Jusu is a first generation American born to Senegalese parents. The filmmaker’s take on the undocumented immigrant experience focus on the highly-qualified immigrant Aisha (Anna Diop) forced to take on a nannying job to barely make ends meet and bring her son Lamine to America.

Nikyatu witnessed Aisha’s experience first hand in her mother, who was disrespected, devalued, and exploited in the land of opportunity which became her home.

“Domestic work is a primary form of work for black and brown immigrant women in America,” Jusu continued. “I wanted to meld that with West African folklore,” she added. Nikyatu went further with the dramatic expression of her idea by infusing supernatural and horror elements into her narrative. “I wanted to contribute something relatively new to the canon of socially-resonant elevated horror.” Therein lies Nanny’s drawcard.

Nikyatu Jusu. Photo by Carlyle Routh

Aisha takes on a job with the dysfunctional, affluent white couple Amy (Michelle Monaghan) and Adam (Morgan Spector) to look after their daughter, Rose (Rose Decker). Aisha initially felt that Amy and Adam were the embodiment of the Instagram-perfect Tribeca family, but she soon realizes the fissures in their superficial functionality. Adam displays uninvited affection toward Aisha and Amy seeks camaraderie with conditions.

This is something Jusu has observed with worrying frequency. “We’re not kind to each other which is a product of what we’re navigating as a society,” she lamented. “We are an unwell society so it’s no wonder we are all unwell.” Nikyatu wants to do more than tell us to show more kindness towards one another. “I’m making commentary on the way we perceive community, the way we see ourselves as individuals versus part of a larger ecosystem.”

Aisha is a mild-mannered nanny who takes the subtle emotional abuse by her employers in her stride. Her pay is frequently forgotten, or late, or not accounting for additional hours. These oversights are dismissed as minor although Aisha has repeatedly informed them her finances are tight. She’s a stoic woman of few words. She observes, process, and calculates her surroundings.

“If you’re not a white male, you learn to suppress your rage,” continued Aisha. “You learn to receive micro-aggressions and racism with dignity in a way that will not offend the person invoking that violence on you.”

I’m interested in people that bubble beneath the surface

White male oppressors aside, Aisha has formed a tenuous bond with Amy who senses her career trajectory is being stifled by men. They’re not friends, but not enemies either. “I’m intrigued by the way women inflict violence upon one another in service of patriarchy. It’s cunning and slick,” said Jusu.

Despite her misgivings about her employers Amy and Adam, Aisha always does right by their daughter Rose. Sure, she cares for the child’s wellbeing, but Aisha’s key driver is survival. If you love your job, it’s a bonus. Most of us go to work to pay the bills. It’s a means to an end.

Nikyatu Jusu also explores the way men and women handle revenge on those who’ve done them wrong. “Revenge is a dish usually served cold with women whereas men typically enact violence immediately.” Both Amy and Aisha are mothers who aren’t looking after their own children. “Amy doesn’t realize that she’s higher on the hierarchy of feminism and can’t see her own privilege.” On another level, not only are Amy and Adam oblivious to their white privilege, they often play the victim card with their white fragility when their stance on race, power and class is questioned. “When you’re navigating a world at its center, you will perceive any semblance of equality as oppression on yourself.” None of themes were verbalized in Nanny. It all simmered beneath.

Aisha (Anna Diop) and Rose (Rose Decker) Photo courtesy of Prime Video

Power dynamics is something that Jusu examines beyond gender roles. “I’m interested in the nuances and the gray area in between all of it.”

Jusu has spliced horror and supernatural genes into the dramatic DNA of Nanny. She squirmed when he pressed her to constrict her film into a predominant genre. “I have a hard time answering this because I see all sides. I perceive my own work as cross-genre.” Filmmakers such as Guillermo Del Torro and Lynne Ramsay which inspire her the most are cross-genre artists. 

Nanny contains pieces of a family drama, horror, a creature feature, and even dark comedy. She accepts the Hollywood paradigm of requiring a “tick one box” approach for marketing purposes, but also makes the case for multiple options.

African Folklore – Parables For Life

Nikyatu Jusu infused elements of West African folklore into Nanny as integral story elements to honor Aisha’s cultural heritage. “There’s a whole slate of resistance figures in the African diaspora.” The filmmaker claimed that humanity shares a large slab of folklore across the globe, but the figures are given difference names and languages

Mami Wata (water mother/ mermaid) is prevalent in the African diaspora. She is nurturing, but also cunning. The Anansi Spider is one of the more popular trickster figures in West Africa. “These are chaos agents who don’t necessarily navigate oppression in ways that are celebrated such as peaceful protest.”

Jusu cites Guillermo Del Torro’s use of folklore, fantasy and nursery rhymes to help people survive oppressive systems. “He uses them as parables for humanity – for love and the survival and our existence.”

Aisha (Anna Diop) Photo courtesy by Prime Video

The Anansi Spider will stand up to the oppressor and encourage the oppressed to burn down these structure. “Burn it all down even if we burn in the process.” The spider is tiny and encounters bigger systems than us. When we feel small and hopeless, we have parables to convince us we can rise make a difference. It’s about seizing control of our lives and destinies.

Nanny unspools as a captivating, unpredictable, tangible cinematic experience. Some elements are quiet and meditative while others are nightmarishly violent.

Nikyatu’s film took on several forms as she worked through the various drafts of Nanny. “There’s a film that you conceive in an outline, a film that you write, a film that revise, one that gets greenlit and shot, and the final film on screen.” These iterations depict the way things are and artists should embrace them. “You can’t be wed to your original conception because inevitably it will change. Some artists it throws off, some it destroys, and some artists lean into it,” pondered Jusu. The opening and closing scenes of Nanny changed the most. “The opening was initially too violent and provocative for some people and the ending initially felt too trite.”

Nanny was a difficult film to pitch to investors to help them visualize it. Investors and producers frequently quoted Rosemary’s Baby as the film that Nanny was most aligned with. At first, Jusu rebelled against the comparison. Eventually, she paused to examine where people were drawing parallels between the two.

Nijyatu Jusu’s work is undeniably eclectic as is her voice. “It’s the center of whatever chapter you are in your life. You need to be self-aware. Be aware of compass.” In expressing her voice, Nanny is a story about empathy. “Specifically, an invitation for people to empathize with themselves and those not centered in the mainstream.“