Candyman is a 2021 horror movie directed by Nia DaCosta and produced by Jordan Peele. It is a spiritual sequel to the 1992 horror movie Candyman. The film was released on August 27, 2021.
Plot[]
In 1977 at Cabrini-Green, a young boy named William Burke is doing laundry and is encountered by a creepy man named Sherman Fields who was hiding in the wall, Sherman offers candy to him. William is frightened by this, and police storm towards Sherman and beat him to death.
Later in 2019, an artist named Anthony McCoy, and his girlfriend Brianna Cartwright are told the story of Helen Lyle by Bri's brother Troy, but his story about Helen was that she was a woman who went insane after learning about Candyman and went on a killing spree.
Anthony goes to Cabrini-Green to find inspiration for his next art project, he gets stung by a bee while there. He meets an adult William Burke, who tells him about Sherman Fields who is Candyman for him. He tells Anthony that Sherman was accused of leaving a razor blade in a little girl's Halloween candy, but after the police brutality, more razor candies were found, proving Sherman was innocent. Anthony makes a painting inspired by William's story, and teases Bri by saying Candyman's name five times in the reflection of their apartment window.
At a local event, Anthony submits his art which he calls, "Say my name" based on the Candyman Sherman Fields, but the owner of the gallery Clive isn't impressed, neither is art critic Finley Stephens. Later that night, Clive and his girlfriend Jerrica are murdered by the ghost of Sherman Fields, who wields a hook for a hand.
Some nights later, Anthony's bee sting gets much worse, and he begins to see his own reflection as Sherman Fields. He visits Finley Stephens house, but leaves shortly after being frightened by Sherman, however, Sherman kills Finley and slides her bloody corpse against her living room window.
After the murders, Anthony talks with Burke again, who reveals that Candyman isn't just one person, he's an entire hive of people who were innocent but were murdered, one of these people was the Candyman that Helen Lyle encountered who was the original Candyman, Daniel Robitaille.
The next morning, Anthony visits his mother Anne-Marie, and she tells him about Helen Lyle. She reveals that Candyman kidnapped Anthony as a baby, and Helen sacrificed herself to save his life. She and the other residents of Cabrini-Green swore to never say Candyman's name again. After the story, Anthony all the sudden leaves to Anne-Marie's confusion.
That night, Bri is kidnapped by Burke at the laundromat. He takes her to a church where Anthony is in a fugue state. Burke wants the legend of Candyman to continue, and for Anthony to be the next Candyman. He saws off Anthony's hand and places a hook in his bloody stump, Burke then calls the police so they can kill Anthony. Bri escapes underground and ends up at Cabrini-Green. Burke confronts Bri, but she stabs him in his eye to death 20 times with a pen. Anthony follows, wearing a Candyman like coat. The police arrive and they shoot Anthony.
The cops are corrupt, and they tell Bri that they're going to charge Anthony for the killings, and they'll accuse Bri of being an accomplice if she doesn't agree with their story. Bri demands to look in the mirror, where she says Candyman's name five times. Anthony now the new Candyman murders all the cops as a swarm of bees covers his face. Bri leaves the cop car, and Anthony floats towards her. As Anthony looks at Bri, his face transforms into Daniel Robitaille. Daniel then asks Bri a chilling favor, Tell Everyone.
Cast[]
- Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Anthony McCoy
- Colman Domingo as William Burke
- Teyonah Parris as Brianna Cartwright
- Vanessa Williams as Anne-Marie McCoy
- Michael Hargrove as Sherman Fields
- Tony Todd as Daniel Robitaille
Additionally, Virginia Madsen voices Helen Lyle on a tape recorder.
Trivia[]
- Anthony is the same baby that Helen rescued Candyman from in the original film.
- The film was originally planned for a June 12, 2020, release in order to avoid competing with Halloween Kills, but the movie's release date was pushed back to October 2020, then got delayed again until August 27, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The movie hit #1 at the box office, making Nia DaCosta the first Black female director to have a film finish #1 at the box office.