The first teaser for The Man in My Basement has dropped, introducing audiences to a chilling psychological thriller starring Willem Dafoe and Corey Hawkins. Based on Walter Mosley’s novel and directed by Nadia Latif, the film is set for a theatrical and Hulu release this fall.
Plot
Corey Hawkins portrays Charles Blakey, an African American man in 1994 Sag Harbor, struggling to save his ancestral home from foreclosure. Enter Anniston Bennet (Dafoe), a mysterious European-accented businessman offering $1,000 a day to rent Charles’s basement — with a strict no-door policy.
As Charles accepts the offer, he is lured into a dark conspiracy tied to his family’s legacy and colonial trauma, hinting at deeper thematic explorations of race, power, and morality.
Cast & Directorial Debut
Alongside Dafoe and Hawkins, the film features Anna Diop, Tamara Lawrance, and others in a strong supporting ensemble.
This marks the feature debut of stage director Nadia Latif, who co-wrote the script with Mosley. Latif describes the film as “darker, scarier, more baroque” than the 2004 novel — now set against the backdrop of the Rwandan genocide to amplify its gravity.
By overlaying events like 1994’s Sag Harbor and Rwandan civil unrest, the story probes enduring themes of exploitation, colonialism, and family cycles.
The Man in My Basement arrives both in select theaters and on Hulu later this autumn.
