Regina Hall Battles Ghosts (Inner and Outer) in New Haunting Thriller ‘Master’
Fresh off her brilliant performance in Nine Perfect Strangers, Regina Hall is tackling new kinds of demons in her upcoming Prime Video thriller, Master. Hall serves as lead star and executive producer. Here’s what she and writer/director Mariama Diallo revealed about the exciting new movie they introduced at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.
Regina Hall’s ‘Master’ is a haunting thriller
Master is an occult drama that follows two Black women, Gail Bishop (Regina Hall) and Jasmine Moore (Zoe Renee), who arrive at Ancaster, a predominantly white Massachusetts college. But as they navigate the institution’s culture of racism, the women come upon a sinister force lurking on campus. The film’s official synopsis reads:
“Professor Gail Bishop has recently been promoted to ‘Master’ of a residence hall, the first time at storied Ancaster College that a Black woman has held the post. Determined to breathe new life into a centuries-old tradition, Gail soon finds herself wrapped up in the trials and tribulations of Jasmine Moore, an energetic and optimistic Black freshman. Jasmine’s time at Ancaster hits a snag early on when she’s assigned a dorm room that is rumored to be haunted.
Things get worse when Jasmine clashes in the classroom with Liv Beckman (Amber Gray), a professor in the middle of her own racially charged tenure review. As Gail tries to maintain order and fulfill the duties of a Master, the cracks begin to show in Ancaster’s once-immaculate facade. After a career spent fighting to make it into Ancaster’s inner circle, Gail is confronted with the horrifying prospect of what lies beneath, her question ultimately becoming not whether the school is haunted, but by whom.”
The Master cast also includes Ozark star Sofia Hublitz and Law & Order: SVU actor Joel de la Fuente. Talia Ryder and Ella Hunt also star.
Filmmaker Mariama Diallo reveals how ‘Master’ brings her perspective to horror
Master is Diallo’s first feature film. Her short, Hair Wolf, won a jury award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018. When talking to IndieWire, the filmmaker talked about bringing her unique perspective to the horror genre and what it means.
“I think that there’s a way in which horror films made by Black artists are being received as kind of teaching tools for non-Black artists to receive,” Diallo said. “And also just as a novelty.”
“How could I never make a film and not talk about my perspective?” she added. “Then we’re doomed. I am glad to be able to now add my voice and say what the hell I want to say.”
Regina Hall finds similarities in her roles in ‘Master’ and ‘Scary Movie’
Master isn’t Hall’s first horror project. In the early 2000s, the actor portrayed Brenda Meeks in the Wayans’ Scary Movie film series.
She told Collider that in both the Scary Movie films and Master, she honed in on the fear her characters faced. And she praised Diallo for helping her bring the most out of her performance.
“It feels great and to do this, the way I think Mariama wrote the script and the way she directed it, it’s so grounded and it’s so real — but it’s like whatever world you’re getting to in whatever genre, it’s really real,” Hall said. “As crazy as it sounds, Brenda was really real. You weren’t playing the parody, you’re not playing the horror.”
“You kind of go into this world, you go into these characters, you go into these relationships,” she added. “And what’s great about having a really good director — like Mariama is she’s watching the monitor and she’s watching your performance, and she’s fine-tuning it and helping you create nuances that are so subtle, and giving you the opportunity to do it until it clicks.”
Master is scheduled to hit select theaters and Prime Video on March 18, 2022.
