There is something that is interesting about a one location story that makes it hard to skimp on character or drama. Because of that one location, in this case, an old Colonel House in Sag Harbor, Long Island, New York, the main characters of The Man In My Basement are the main focus. They have to carry this dramatic thriller in a big way. The atmosphere that is set in this house is intense. The story builds to a fascinating conclusion.There was a lack of satisfaction when this interesting story finally ended.

Charles Blakey (Corey Hawkins, Straight Outta Compton) is a man who lives alone in an old Colonel house. It used to be his family’s home before they all moved or died off. He’s struggling financially, and if he doesn’t come up with some money soon, his house is going to be repossessed. While trying to figure out what to do in this time of struggle, he gets a couple of visitors. One Anniston Bennett (Willem Dafoe) tries to rent the man’s basement, and Narciss Gully (Anna Diop,Nanny), an antiques dealer, is interested in a group of ancient artifacts he found in his basement. Between the two of them, they can help this man get back on his feet. The question is whether or not he is willing to do what’s necessary to get back on his feet or not.

The house featured in this film is beautiful in a rustic, old-fashioned way. It seems to be made out of beautiful wood with a nice kitchen and floors. Of course, like most houses up north, this big house has a basement with a lot of space. This is where the Dafoe character wants to stay in seclusion away from the world so he can read his books in peace. The problem is that Hawkins’ character is too curious about why this man chose him and his hope to live in for the winter. They end up getting into a dispute, which causes them to have problems with each other. They are a lot more similar to each other than they think. They both have secrets they are trying to keep from one another.

Hawkins is an actor who I first saw in Straight Outta Compton. He played one of the founding members of the N.W.A. Dr. Dre. A pioneer of rap and hip hop music. Since then, he’s sung and danced in In the Heights, the story of Lin Manuel Miranda’s upbringing in Washington Heights, New York City. He’s been in a few other films like The Color Purple remake,The Piano Lesson, and Blackklansman. All of these films have a similar vibe. They have a lens towards Blackcentric stories. These seem to be what he has been gravitated towards in his career. There is a subtext of that in The Man in My Basement as well. He does a great job acting, mostly opposite Dafoe. This character has a lot to overcome with the financial problems he’s having, but the normal everyday things he does fit into the vibe of the film.

Dafoe has been doing a lot of great films lately from some incredible directors like Tim Burton, Robert Eggers, and Yorgos Lanthimos, just to name a few. He’s also capable of doing more straightforward characters like he did in Inside. The character here is more like that character. They are normal men who have a normal life with a few secrets they are hiding. Dafoe is like a chameleon, though. He is able to adapt to any character he is given as an example, the father who thought he lost his daughter in The Legend of Ochi. He does good work once again opposite Hawkins. I just wish there was more to this character than ended up being the case. He is the title character, after all.

I know I’ve talked about macguffins a lot lately, but this film has one as well if you call $65,000 dollars macguffin, that is. The money in this movie plays a big part in the story. It is used in various ways to move the story forward. That’s what a good macguffin should do in a film like this. The help makes things better for the Hawkins character, but it is also used to blackmail the Dafoe character as well. What can this money buy? That was the big question the director and co-screenwriter of the movie, Nadia Latiff, is asking. She revolves this film around that money because she understands that a lot of people struggle with their finances, so it’s very important in the context of the story. I, for one, can agree with that assessment. $65,000 dollars sure would help me out. It doesn’t buy everything, though, and I think that’s the moral of the story.

The Man in My Basement is a really good character study about men who have made mistakes and have a lot to make up for. These two men were destined to be in this house and face each other. They need to be together whether there is $65,000 dollars involved or not. The writer director gave viewers a lot to think about regarding worth and personal growth. Hawkins and Dafoe are both good in the movie. It has a lot to say, but I don’t know if it gets all the way there or not. The film is trying to give a moral story, and I applaud the filmmaker/writers for that. Not all movies get to the place they are going despite the fact that everybody involved was trying their best to get there. That’s unfortunately the case here.

2 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen