The film begins when a couple Bol Majur (Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù) and his wife Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) flee war-torn Sudan with their daughter Nyagak (Malaika Wakoli-Abigaba) but during their trip across water, their youngest dies horridly. On their arrival in the UK they are given strict restrictions by an Immigration Officer (Matt Smith) and placed in a home on a dilapidated estate.

Their new abode is in a horrible condition and amongst the peeling wallpaper and filthy furniture, there appears to be a paranormal presence along with them. What His House does uniquely is that rather than limited to haunting the home, this spirit has in fact come with them from their place of origin.

The film sets the scene excellently and the swift urgency of the editing by Julia Bloch hits home its themes in a punchy but not preachy way. It also conveys the speed in which life changes but soon we enter a world of whispering walls and dark terrors. Shadowy figures, indigenously-dressed young phantoms and water-drenched ropes that manifest from the building create an unsettling set of images as it spooks and scares.

But the film never forgets its main topics of assimilation, survival and guilt. Dìrísù and Mosaku are excellent in their roles as they are terrorised by the house ghosts but also their memories and by the people they meet in the UK. Yet the film mostly tries to steer from old chestnuts.

As allthough there are definite moments of awkwardness (a doctor embarrassingly misjudges Rial’s scars), they are somewhat welcomed into the community at times via football, yet they do feel unwelcomed by some British black teens mocking African accents in a scene of awful racism.

And whilst they are hardly warmed into the area, the film focuses its camera on a spooky parable of the horrors of memory utilising the acting of its two great central performers. Asking how far people would go to flee persecution, the film has a shocking twist in the tale that reframes the story with the spectral metaphors illuminating past horrors.

There is however one line of dialogue right at the end which so obviously explains every piece of subtext and is so on the nose it may as well be the knockout punch of a heavyweight boxer. Get rid of it, it's sooooo not needed and I groaned at its unnecessary inclusion.

His House is not perfect but is a great addition to a narrative that so could have easily been just another haunted house genre flick. With deep musings on terrible deeds and accepting responsibility for actions, the excellent debut directing from Weekes has created an exceptional movie with real chills, tremendous acting and deep ideas where menacing memories inhabit both your home and your head.

★★★★