One of the few good things to come out of this time we’re spending tucked away in our homes is the huge amount of creative content being released. Sure, movie theatres are closed and sadly so are traditional theatres, but I am finding that many artists are building up an arsenal of work, ready to be released when we can share a public space safely again. Until then, other platforms (even TV networks) are using this time to unify, but also diversify by releasing unique content. Female protagonists are becoming increasingly powerful and complicated – as seen in the Queen’s Gambit. Refugees are being shown as more than just victims such as in His House. It seems as though we have moved past a time of politically correct and into a time of bespoke storytelling.

In this short series of writing I seek to explore the social necessity of writing inclusive characters. In this time of global crisis, it is easy to recognize that many of us have never felt more isolated, we are missing our families, we feel like we’re losing parts of our identity. Some of us are losing our identities due to lack of routine.  At other times we quite literally lose our identity because even the most familiar people look like strangers to us because of the necessity of wearing a face mask.  For the first part of this series I would like to take a look at His House, directed by Remi Weeks. Halloween has come and gone, and with it the memories (and sometimes nightmares) of many horror movies have come and gone as well. His House, on the other hand, has stuck in my mind and transcends the horror genre entirely. The movie follows a young Sudanese refugee couple that arrives in London. The culture shock for the couple and lack of empathy from the UK immigration office is a tension that carries from the beginning to the end of the film. I’ve never seen a film that so perfectly balances drama and horror before—the script swings effortlessly between each of these moods and explores a very believable and heart-breaking story of asylum.  The film also heavily explores identity and the reality of having to give up everything and start over, while also feeling completely alienated. Bol and his wife Rial are incredibly grateful when they are given asylum in the UK after an obviously stressful interrogation period. The ‘home’ they’re given on an estate is derelict with abandoned filthy furniture, countless holes in the walls and pests. The couple is immediately elated and their first question to the council manager is “Is this whole place ours?”. Bol very quickly pushes himself to assimilate by going to the barber and then the pub while his wife struggles to leave the house. The story touches on a very real pressure that exists for immigrants (especially refugees) to quickly assimilate into the society they enter. It is evident that Bol and Rial are both suffering from trauma, and yet they are told to be “good” as to not further the bad reputation of the refugees. The psychological state of this vulnerable couple is overlooked and the obvious trauma they are suffering from is ignored. It isn’t long before Bol’s past begins to literally haunt him and there is a battle between his mental torments and the necessity to continue being an upstanding tenant as to not put their asylum at risk. It’s evident that the director of His House did an incredible amount of research and put so much care into telling a story of trauma, identity, and the often overlooked struggle of being an immigrant.

Written by Alexandra Hakli

Edited by Amy Barlow