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France · 2022
1h 25m
Director Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury
Starring Mathilde La Musse, Samarcande Saadi, Suzy Bemba, Nassim Lyes
Genre Horror
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Three young women who have been inseparable since they were kids invoke the spirit of Kandisha, a vengeful, haunting creature found in Moroccan legends. But what was only meant to be a game spirals into a nightmare when the trio’s close friends begin disappearing in tragic circumstances.
The question is whether Kandisha’s intriguing elements are strong enough to cancel out its more uninspired ones. For Bustillo and Maury completists and seasoned fans of monster movies and ’90s horror who are accustomed to cherry-picking cool elements from forgettable films, the answer is yes. For the rest of the viewing public, summoning this demon probably isn’t worth the pain.
Paste Magazine by Natalia Keogan
Despite achieving formidable scares and clever callbacks to the filmmakers’ debut Inside, a sinister specter of clumsy cultural engagement lingers in Kandisha.
The closing stretch – including an exorcism in an imam’s incantation-lined apartment (interior design goals!) – is brutally effective. By this time, Aisha Kandisha is a towering succubus; postcolonial theory stomping in on a pair of terrifying goat’s hooves.
Aside from a moment here and there, we get little commitment from our star trio. What should be wrenching all along the way is mainly momentary grief, guilt or fear. For us to buy in, the leads have to buy in. They don’t.
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