The Man in My Basement

I found The Man in My Basement to be a truly frustrating film, not because it challenges the viewer, but because it offers almost nothing beyond a shallow, repetitive message about race. Instead of building a meaningful story with depth, character growth, or originality, it endlessly hammers the same point - white versus Black - in a way that feels forced, cliché, and tiresome. Rather than engaging the audience with substance, it relies on empty preaching and turns into a boring lecture disguised as cinema. For me, it was flat, pretentious, and ultimately a waste of time.

This movie began with a lot of promise. An interesting setup with strange and mysterious circumstances had me hoping for a fun ride. Sadly, the movie was unable to deliver anything close to a satisfying payoff.

The main plot is riddled with holes, and the "B" plot could have been a solid story, but it was really just anti-white people nonsense. Characters make inexplicable decisions and rarely ask the obvious questions - both hallmarks of bad writing.

I guess it was entertaining for the first hour, but by the halfway point it becomes stale, repetitive and frustrating. The actors do all they can with what they have to work with, and everyone turns in a solid performance. The script just can't deliver - a bucket of refuse remains a bucket of refuse. Truthfully, the only reason I finished it was because I had passed the point of no return to watch a better movie before bed. Skip this one, folks. You won't miss out on anything of substance.

What the heck did I just watch for the past two hours? I ignored the bad ratings for the sake of William Dafoe , I was dead wrong, this is what you can call honesty a bad movie. I googled the director, nothing is satisfactory, I hope she stops directing. This is truly a bad experience for me, I advise other people not to go through it, please don't.

The movie began with a spark of promise, pulling me in with striking visuals and the sense that something profound was about to unfold. The early scenes hinted at layered characters and a storyline that could have offered both emotional depth and suspense. Unfortunately, that initial momentum faded as the film lingered too long on a single plotline. What began as intriguing soon felt repetitive and unnecessarily drawn out, creating confusion rather than mystery.

As the narrative progressed, the experience became a kind of sensory overload. The combination of rapid-fire visuals, abrupt tonal shifts, and disorienting sound design overwhelmed rather than immersed me. Instead of heightening the drama, these choices distracted from the core story and made it difficult to stay emotionally invested.

One of the most glaring missed opportunities was the lack of visual memories from Bennett. Showing more of his past-moments that shaped him, relationships that mattered-would have given the audience a stronger emotional anchor and a deeper understanding of his choices. Without these glimpses, Bennett remained distant, a character we were asked to care about without being shown why.

Equally troubling was the thin explanation for why he was held captive. The film teased at a larger purpose or hidden motive, yet never delivered the clarity needed for a satisfying reveal. By the time the final scene arrived, the unanswered questions piled high.

The ending left me not only confused but also awash in a swirl of unexplained emotions. Rather than the haunting ambiguity of a well-crafted thriller, it felt like an incomplete puzzle-pieces missing, motivations unclear, and character arcs left hanging. The film had great potential, but without fuller storytelling and a more thoughtful resolution, it ultimately fell short of its early promise.

Once again some story trying to be too cute by half, actually, it's an attempt at trying to be too deep but not really getting beyond its own superficiality, possibly there was some okay premise here but it was never fleshed out!, some voodoo commentary on races, some racial something here, I missed the point, oh but I did get where they fit in the white people could be the actual only evil in the world part! (an actual line), phooey on you for that..., my advice?, skip this flatulence.