Candyman: Say His Name

Candyman (2021) directed by Nia DaCosta dives into the issues within the Black community, particularly impoverished Black communities. We see this right from the start as the film begins in the Cabrini-Green housing project in 1977. Within minutes we are introduced to Candyman, the legend. But he’s not entirely what we expect. Creeping out from a hole in the wall and humming a song, hooked-hand Candyman extends his hand to the child William to offer him candy. Instead of accepting the candy, the boy who is terrified in the moment just like us screams, alerting the police who come looking for him. We are subsequently thrown into the present, 2019, where painter Anthony McCoy, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, struggles to connect to his work on a deeper level, as well as create something that will popularize his name and his work.

Anthony begins research of the Cabrini-Green housing project, leading him down a rabbit hole in the chase towards Candyman. Documented cases and legend combine creating muddiness within Anthony’s reality of who and what Candyman is. Insisting that Candyman is real, Anthony essentially starts to lose his sanity and all that goes with it. This causes trouble with his partner Brianna, played by Teyonah Parris, who leaves him after he tries to prevent her from saying Candyman. She wants to prove the legend is fake, but he has seen enough to know that Candyman is real. He goes through a kind of metamorphosis throughout the film, starting with a bee sting on the hand as he started his research. Anthony slowly breaks out into more and more hives until his hand becomes unsightly with blisters, kept a secret from Brianna. As Anthony descends into madness, he discovers from his mother the truth of his childhood. Initially, Brianna’s brother Troy played by Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, tells him the well-known and recorded version of events: that a graduate student Helen Lyle snaps and goes on a violent rampage, killing residents of the housing project ending with the kidnapping of a baby. She ultimately commits suicide by entering a fire she attempted to throw the baby into before she was stopped. However, after visiting his mother, Anthony learns of a different series of events. His mother insists that Helen saved him and gave him back to her; that Candyman was the one who chose him as a child. He discovers that he was the baby from the story, and things have finally come full circle. Someone has broken the pact to not say his name and now he is back. The film’s conclusion begins as William Burke, scarred from his child run-in with Candyman in 1977, abducts Brianna who was searching for Anthony, who has gone missing. In an abandoned building of the ruins of the housing project, William proclaims that the legend of Candyman must be taken back in order to be used as protection from gentrification of the community. Predicted by Burke, police show up and shoot an unconscious Anthony, killing him without asking any questions. As Brianna is taken into custody, Candyman attacks the horde of police officers, killing them. Brianna is able to escape and is told by Candyman to tell everyone what she saw, thus a new legend is born.

“Candyman ain’t a he, he’s the whole damn hive.”

Candyman as an urban legend works great as an icon in the Black Horror genre. Candyman himself has a story that allows for him to be both sympathetic and a source of fear. It is a story that Black people can all too well relate to and resonate with. The original Candyman, as shown in the film is a world-class painter who after an interracial love affair is tortured. In describing his torture in vivid detail, we get information about where the legendary image of Candyman originates from. The honey spread on his chest that attracted bees to sting him on his chest and his arm being disfigured and a meat hook being attached, both allow us to further understand the origin of his iconography. The bees that follow his presence and his hooked hand all have reasons of being there, a constant reminder of the pain he went through. The details are not there for the hell of it, but to establish the icon himself. 

Candyman works so well because he isn’t this faceless nameless entity, he stems from real injustice in American society. He could be any one of these Black men who meet their fate through racial terror and is killed unduly. He essentially is. He is the form of anger that stems from unfairness and unfinished business. The film sets up these distinct cases that stem from systemic racial terror, creating an endless cycle of Candyman over generations. As the character William talks about towards the end of the film, Candyman is used as a form of protection and as something to fear. Candyman as a form of protection is intriguing, as those in the Black community fear him. Perhaps Candyman is the embodiment of the Black man who can fight back, not held back by a physical body or limitations. Candyman is fearless, seeking revenge as he is summoned by those who want to see if he is real. 

For some, Candyman is just an urban legend and not something that is seen. To them, he isn't real until he is; but then it’s too late. DaCosta tackles these ideas head on with such detail and cinematic storytelling. The concept of cyclical tragedy is really set in motion by small details in the film, as well as actors' performances when recounting unsettling and traumatic events in one’s childhood. The callbacks to the past are incredibly important to the plot and well structured, as we go on this journey with Anthony and figure out the truth of what is happening. We see his transformation from a normal man on the edge of greatness with his work, to a victim of the system and a kind of destiny. He was chosen to become the new “Candyman” without any of it being his choice. This speaks to the issue of police brutality, and how there is no voluntary part in it. At the end of the film, Anthony is literally resting on the ground and is still shot. It did not matter what he did or how long he tried to prolong his fate, it happened regardless. That is to say that Candyman is created from injustice and continues to be due to injustice.

“They love what we make, but not us.”

Anthony’s art in the film extraordinarily is a connection that we have into his mind. As the story progresses, we see his isolation and mental state through his work. He does not communicate with his partner Brianna but instead spends time painting, allowing us to see what is going on inside his head without him having to state it outright. As Anthony’s art develops into something completely different then his work in the beginning, we see how he has changed, the transformation taking over every facet of his life. At the start of the film, Anthony’s work is very tame and even cartoony in its delivery. 

He slowly works his way towards the depiction of violence, creating a painting depicting the beating of a Black man, splattered with red paint or “blood” across the canvas. Eventually he ends up creating a series of portraits. The men who have been part of the Candyman legend before him, all deemed victims of racial violence, mob lynchings and police brutality alike. Anthony has worked to find the truth of Candyman to help with his creative vision, his new paintings become a far cry from where he started. In gory detail, the portraits of the men are engrained in your mind, mesmerizing yet difficult to look at. Anthony has finally gotten to the peak of what he was searching for, though with his metamorphosis taking a toll on his body he can no longer paint. He searched for the truth about Candyman, only to figure out in the worst way imaginable what and who Candyman truly is.


Women who Worked on the Film

Brittany Klesic – co-producer

Catrin Hedström – Editor
Claire Simon – Casting
Cara Brower – Production Design
Jami Primmer – Art Direction
Ines Rose – Art Direction
Lizzie Cook – Costume Design
Angela Barracca – Hair Stylist
Kimberly L. Boundas –Lens Technician
Eadra Brown
Anna Cali – Key Special Makeup Effects Artist
Sirena Crosby – Makeup Artist
Jessi Dean – Hair Department Head
Karen Koenig – Additional Makeup Artist
Nini Jenkins – Makeup Artist
Aimee Lippert – Makeup Department Head


Deida K. Massey...key makeup artist: additional photography (as Deida Massey)
Clare Ramsey...prosthetic makeup artist
Nicole Rogers...co-key makeup artist: additional photography (as Nicole Rodgers)
Unwana Rose...co-key hair stylist: additional photography
Christine Sciortino...additional sfx makeup artist
Rukey Styles...key hair stylist: additional photography
Kacy Tatus...makeup artist / special makeup effects artist
Daria V. Wright...co-key makeup artist
Jasmine Kosovic...post-production supervisor
Lauren Scott...executive in charge of production
Christina Varotsis...unit production manager
Amy Frazzini...art department coordinator
Anita Gallo...set designer
Mary Hayes...graphic designer
Myra Juenger...additional props
Lisa Korpan...set designer
Imanne Mondane...greensman
Rhonda Nunn...art department assistant
Anna Parfitt...props
Kathleen Shugrue...property master
Kelsey Zeigler...sound utility: reshoots
Jennifer Hiltwein...special effects foreman
Stefanie Mitchell...special effects foreman
Jennifer Alavez...senior visual effects coordinator: Luma Pictures
Jenny Jiyeon Bae...outsourcing production manager: Method Studios
Kate Bernauer...digital compositor
Jacquelyn Booth...digital compositor: Mill Film
Sharon Das...Digital Production Coordinator: luma pictures
Bridget Dinning...Production Support
Vanessa Fernandez Calle...layout artist: Method Studios
Lisa Gane...enviroment artist: Method Studios / environment and digital matte painter: method studios
Meagan Green...compositor: Luma Pictures
Daniela Kisinovsky...Digital Coordinator
Mary Lapena...compositor: Mr X
Francesca Milde...compositor
Bridgette Perrers...animation td: Method Studios
Ariel Simone...production assistant: Method Studios
Rosalind Stratton...Associate VFX Producer: Method Studios
Crystal Taylor...vfx production coordinator: Method Studios
Corinne Teng...visual effects producer
Christina Wallace...technical support: Method Studios
Isabel Wallace...vfx production coordinator: Method Studios
Rachel Harrison...stunts
Natalie M. Meyer...stunt double sarah wisterman
Cheyenne Watson...stunt rigger
Ashley Battle...Additional Second Assistant Camera
Katie Bellamy...Best Boy Electric: additional / electrician
Natasha Major...electrician
Kayla Sullers...Camera PA / digital utility

Elaisa Vargas...second assistant camera
Litong Zhen...digital utility
Taylor Muhoberac ..animator: Luma Pictures
Patty Connolly...adr voice casting
Mandy Mamlet...music supervisor
Isabel Acuna...assistant: Ms. DaCosta, additional photography
Nicole Price...assistant editor: EPK and BTS
Chris-Teena Constas...transportation
Andrea Staley ...dot administrator (as Andrea Jeanine Staley)