A twisting tale that combines elements of “Candyman,” “The Shining” and “Get Out,” Mariama Diallo’s “Master” isn’t the kind of traumatic horror film that interrogates racism solely as a fright in itself. Diallo is too smart for that. This mesmerizing freak out, a psychologically brutal witch and ghost story, pulls in viewers with smart writing, and even more brilliant performances. It explicates colorism, racial passing, micro-aggressions, and the crushing pressures of Black Excellence not as history-teaching, example-making cudgels, but as illnesses that live and breathe beneath and above the surface of America. [full review via Indiewire]

I enjoyed it for what it was. Feels more made to comment on race in College rather than to scare or anything but it was nice. In the end it just feels a little more simplistic than the buildup would make you believe. Still, solid movie. Regina Hall is actually so excellent.

An ok psychological drama which awkwardly blends horror and social commentary. It's mildly entertaining and quite effective in generating suspense but it severely lacks coherence in storytelling and the allegory are extremely heavy handed. It has two major storylines that don't quite harmonize together and I feel like if they remove all of the witch supernatural stuff from this, and just focus on the micro aggressions, it could have been a much better horror film. The performances were good, though.

2022 Horror Ranked

Brenda did NOT survive four Scary Movies just to be called Barack

“You can’t get away from it, Jasmine. It’s everywhere.”

The use of “it” does a lot of work in the conversation between ‘’Master” Bishop and Jasmine after her fall from her dorm window. They never say racism or anti-blackness or white supremacy but these ideas hang in the air between them. This scene is a great example of the issues with the film — it’s at once heavy handed and undercooked. The characters are thinly drawn ideas, but Regina Hall is trying her hardest to make it all cohesive and work. 

The ending is atrocious with its muddled metaphors, hollow political outlook, and inability to really end on a note that wholly works for its main characters.

"Whiteness doesn't have to be the default" - Teacher,

- 2022 Ranked: boxd.it/eWNQo
- Sundance 2022: boxd.it/f5MjG

The thing about Regina Hall is that... she's fucking awesome!

This film is so freaking good I wish I could rewatch it immediately. It's smart, it's tense, it deals with important issues, it's creepy, the casting is PERFECT, the direction is slick as hell, and hot damn did I vibe with its pacing and general vibe. As a horror aficionado (fuck you I am) I really love when a film can get under my skin in a way I didn't anticipate and this did. I thought I hated the ending for e minute and then I ended up loving the ending.

Maybe I'll lower on rewatch but fuck it this is Sundance bitch!!!!

Doesn't matter where I go, it's everywhere!

I felt that shit.

The horrors of racism exist. Always has. Probably always will unfortunately. The subtle racist remarks, the "I'm not racist but" fucktards, being looked at a certain way cause your skin is a certain color, etc. It's like an actual illness. It's everywhere. All the time. That's life.

The three women all on different journeys at one predominately white college. Each with their own struggles and stories that intersect along the way. The supernatural element fit well within the storyline. Solid acting across the board, especially from Regina Hall. Love her in everything! Ominous, bleak, realistic, haunting, triggering, insightful. I dig it, I dug it.

This was mystery drama horror with an interesting concept that wasn’t effectively executed. Set at a predominately white New England university, two African American women, Gail and Jasmine played by Regina Hall and Zoe Renee, stories collide as they navigate through a deep-rooted threat at the institute. The cast was fine in this but Hall stood out with her performance. She’s wonderful. They suffer from trying to juggle the two stories, things were left underdeveloped. The jumpscares and twist were shoehorned in, they did not feel organic. Though I did like the dark atmosphere they built. The social commentary was overt but clashed with these types of slow reveal films. Ultimately, it didn’t have a good payoff. Had they eliminated the horror aspect and focus on the powerful message, it could have been a more coherently made drama.

Ok yes!!! Yes yes yes yes yes this one was VERY good. It’s a pretty middle of the road horror essentially but heightened by great atmosphere and performances. I loved the cold college setting, and the witchcraft stuff scattered throughout was awesome. It did a good job of combining the 2 characters following different plots and occasionally overlapping, it’s pretty cleverly written and directed. As far as Amazon original films go this is one of the better ones. If you are a fan of the film The Blackcoat’s Daughter I reckon you’d enjoy this.

“Master” doesn’t work for me neither as a horror movie nor as a drama. Although someone commits suicide here, the story left me cold. I've been waiting the whole time for something to happen that touches me more. It all seemed too constructed and nothing was made of the quite interesting approaches.