User Reviews

Yeap. I have a very massive problem with modern-day "aesthetic" horrors. Nowadays, horrors are partnering with another genre, drama. But the problem is, the drama side is oppressing the horror part. Adding an excellent dramatic storyline is, of course, necessary, but writers are forgetting to scare us. As fits the name, it is Horror! Horrors should horrify. But now they are just very well-stylized dramatic borings. Nothing more. I had big hopes for Master, but it is just another dramatic dull. Sorry, but I don't watch Horrors for messages. I need something that would scare me. Messages would be a plus for me.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

The decent production value and cast elevate the poor material that seems to waver between being a coming of age racially charged drama that sometimes disguises itself as a horror film. Juggling it's time between the two major characters the ideas here are interesting but flawed in a movie that fails to fully capitalize on either concept instead settling for a mediocre outing.

(Mauro Lanari) In her feature film debut, Diallo faces an avalanche of arguments she can't focus, jamming "too many plot beats, characters and polemical points into the narrative for all of them to pay off satisfactorily" (Ann Hornaday of "The Washington Post").

'Master' tackles normalized racism in the U.S.A. in a somewhat interesting way, but it lacks the wit and the impact of 'Get Out!' The horror angle of the film is half-baked; nevertheless, the drama around three black women suffering from silent but vicious attacks from white people in a prestigious college leads to a strong finale.

Amidst the conflicts of decision that its director deploys, Master turns out to be a story that is diluted in development and not so much in conceptualization. The story and representation are there, but not a truly focused approach. The story this director tells is about the racism embedded in the cultural existence of communities that are majority white, and institutionally in universities of higher education. So far so good, especially in tone. But what could have been much more relevant for its thematic content and excellently atmospheric for its cinematic style, is dissipated by a constant foolishness to create sequences that feel more disorienting than frightening. Again, the message is there and that helps, and the questions it provokes are more than pertinent, but if you're aiming to make a horror/suspense film with it's notable social commentary, you have to go beyond what Jordan Peele does. Master is a more serious film than Peele's, but it's clear that there are a lot of lessons here that were learned from Get Out and Us.