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.
Kandisha
✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
France · 2022
1h 25m
Director Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury
Starring Mathilde La Musse, Samarcande Saadi, Suzy Bemba, Nassim Lyes
Genre Horror
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
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.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
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.
Users who liked this film also liked
Dark Water
(仄暗い水の底から)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2002
- Director Hideo Nakata
- Cast Hitomi Kuroki, Rio Kanno, Mirei Oguchi, Asami Mizukawa, Shigemitsu Ogi, Yuu Tokui
- Genre Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
- Available on Screambox, Criterion Channel, Night Flight Plus, ARROW, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Kanopy
Enola Holmes
Holmes... Enola Holmes
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2020
- Director Harry Bradbeer
- Cast Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, Helena Bonham Carter, Louis Partridge, Adeel Akhtar
- Genre Adventure, Crime, Mystery
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
Finch
On a post-apocalyptic Earth, a man, his dog, and an intelligent robot are on a quest for survival.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2021
- Director Miguel Sapochnik
- Cast Tom Hanks, Caleb Landry Jones, Oscar Avila, Lora Martinez-Cunningham, Marie Wagenman, Emily Jones
- Genre Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction
- Available on Apple TV Plus, Apple TV Plus Amazon Channel
Last Night in Soho
A young girl is transported back to the Swinging Sixties in her dreams where she discovers a dark secret
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2021
- Director Edgar Wright
- Cast Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Michael Ajao, Diana Rigg, Terence Stamp
- Genre Horror, Mystery, Thriller
- Available on Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, FlixFling
Rurouni Kenshin: The Final
(るろうに剣心 最終章 The Final)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2021
- Director Keishi Ōtomo
- Cast Takeru Satoh, Emi Takei, Mackenyu, Munetaka Aoki, Yu Aoi, Yûsuke Iseya
- Genre Action, Adventure, Drama
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Spider-Man faces a crisis from across the multiverse.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United States, Iceland • 2021
- Director Jon Watts
- Cast Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jon Favreau, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei
- Genre Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
Trippin’ with the Kandasamys
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- South Africa • 2021
- Director Jayan Moodley
- Cast Jailoshini Naidoo, Koobeshan Naidoo, Maeshni Naicker, Mishqah Parthiephal, Mariam Bassa, Ugan Naidoo
- Genre Comedy, Romance
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
The Institute
- ✭ ✭
- United States • 2022
- Director Hamza Zaman
- Cast Ignacyo Matynia, Victorya Brandart, Hamza Zaman, Richard Nwaoko, Jarred Harper, Claire McClain
- Genre Thriller, Horror
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, VUDU Free, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel