Horror Noire: Good Madam
Good Madam (Xhosa: Mlungu Wam) is a 2021 South African film which deals with themes of apartheid, colonialism, racism, Black identity, and assimilation into white society in such a way that I was surprised to find out after the fact that the director (Jenna Cato Bass) is white. Bass rightfully defers to the Black people she works with and the characters they embody, and it’s clear that they are in the driver’s seat when it comes to informing and driving the narrative.
The film’s premise is simple, yet effective: After the death of her beloved grandmother, Tsidi (Chumisa Cosa) moves back in with her estranged mother, Mavis (Nosipho Mtebe), bringing along her daughter Winnie. For the past 30 years, Mavis has been the live-in caretaker of a wealthy white woman, Madam, who is now elderly and bed-ridden. Though the house is huge, Tsidi and Winnie stay in the small maid’s quarters, at Mavis’ insistence and are forbidden from touching anything that belongs to Madam.
The latter, who remains sequestered in her bedroom and mostly unseen, appears to have some sort of a hold on Mavis, which Tsidi finds increasingly worrying.
The situation only worsens when a sinister supernatural presence makes itself known within the house.
