The Power (2021)
Directed by Corinna Faith
Starring Rose Williams, Diveen Henry, Shakira Rahman, Sarah Hoare, Charlie Carrick, Gbemisola Ikumelo

There is nothing better than searching through Prime or Shudder and deciding to take a chance on a title that you know nothing about, and just being completely blown away by what you picked. That happened with me with The Power. First of all, I’m a sucker for old fashion ghost stories, where there is a secret that needs to be discovered and the main character(s) have to fight their way through different terrors to bring something to light. The beauty here is that while this is a period piece, the “secret” is just as relevant today, even more so, than it is when the story takes place.

Set in the early ‘70s, Rose Williams stars as Val, a young nurse on her first day on the job at an old hospital where people are being relocated. Due to the labor strikes going on, there are forced blackouts throughout the city. For some reason, Val does not due to well in the dark. But when she is “asked” by the head Matron to work the night shift, she can’t say no and start her first day on a bad note. Starting out as a genuinely nice and friendly person, just wanting to help people, Val seems like the perfect person for this kind of career. As the surroundings start to get darker, not only do we start to see how it effects Val, but we also start to realize there is something else, hiding in the shadows. I don’t want to go too much into the storyline because I think it is better to go into a story, sort of walking into a darkened hallway, not knowing what you might run into.

With this being her first feature film, writer / director Corinna Faith has given us a very creepy film, filled with plenty of shadowy atmosphere, but also within the darkness of this story she hopes to spread the light on a subject that is still (unfortunately) very prevalent today. Instead of giving us a storyline that tries to beat the message into you, she has masterfully crafted it around a classic style ghost story that can definitely stand on its own.

With most of the film resting on the lead shoulders of our lead actress, Rose Williams, she gives us a very real character, very naïve but with hopes and dreams, as well as flaws and deep scars. We live this story through her eyes and feel it just as much.

As I mentioned, I love old fashioned ghost stories so this one really hit home with me. It is well shot, well told, and beautifully brought to life by some talented actors. Seek this one out, people. It’s a good one.