‘Nanny’ Review: An Immigrant Mother Separated From Her Child Fears the Worst
variety.comPeter Debruge Chief Film CriticAisha didn’t move to New York City to raise some other mother’s kids. She moved there with the intention of bringing her young son over from Senegal.
In order to pay his way, however, Aisha must do as so many undocumented women have in the Big Apple: She must play mom to a stranger’s child, while a family member takes care of her own back home in Africa.
In “Nanny,” debuting writer-director Nikyatu Jusu brings fresh eyes to this widely accepted dynamic, so rarely seen from the perspective of the immigrant worker herself.Aisha is a strong and independent heroine, though it’s not easy to be assertive in a culture that expects subservience of outsiders.
A confident first-time filmmaker who doesn’t shy away from the power of ambiguity and suggestion, Jusu draws on aspects of West African folklore, invoking such supernatural figures as Anansi the Spider, a tiny trickster who uses his cunning to outwit larger rivals, and Mami Wata, a seductive water spirit or mermaid with dark motives.
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