Corey Hawkins Rents Out More Than Space in The Man in My Basement

Corey Hawkins and Willem Dafoe face off in Nadia Latif’s adaptation of Walter Mosley’s The Man in My Basement / Photos Courtesy of Andscape

After months of silence, we finally have an update on The Man in My Basement, a new film from director Nadia Latif and Disney’s Andscape, starring Corey Hawkins, Willem Dafoe, and Anna Diop. The film will premiere at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) before hitting select theaters on September 12. It will also stream later this fall on Hulu and Disney+.

Today, the studio released the first trailer—and it’s clear this is a quiet, tense drama with something heavy at its core.

What It’s About:

Charles Blakey (Hawkins) lives in Sag Harbor, New York, in a home passed down through his family. He’s out of work, behind on payments, and at risk of losing the house. One day, a stranger shows up. His name is Anniston Bennet (Dafoe), and he has an offer: let him rent the basement for the summer, and Charles will have enough money to pay off everything he owes.

Charles agrees.

What follows is not a horror film, but something colder. The two men begin to talk. Over time, the reason Bennet wants to live in the basement—and what he represents—starts to change the air in the house. Charles is forced to face parts of his past he’s tried to forget, while Bennet’s behavior grows harder to explain.

At the center of everything is a question neither man seems ready to ask: what does this exchange really cost?

Adapted From the Novel by Walter Mosley:

Latif’s version of The Man in My Basement sticks closely to the novel’s original structure. The setting remains small. The story focuses on two men in a house. But the tension builds from quiet decisions, small questions, and the things neither of them say out loud.

We’ll have more coverage as the film heads to TIFF and prepares for its September release. Follow @HMUNCUT and @TravisNyquill for updates.