No-See-Um’s Review: Reclamation Horror Walks the Line Between Homage and Identity

Aleigha Burt stars as Ember, a young woman caught between worlds in Raven Deshay Carter’s reclamation horror thriller No-See-Um’s.

There may be no more fitting time to release a reclamation horror film than Black History Month, and Raven Deshay Carter’s No-See-Um’s arrives with that exact kind of cultural timing. Opening February 27, the supernatural thriller positions itself somewhere between Get Out, Candyman, and Mean Girls — and whether that comparison excites or concerns you will likely determine how you respond to the film.

At its core, No-See-Um’s follows Ember (Aleigha Burt), a young Black woman attempting to exist in two worlds at once. She wants to maintain her connection to her Black friends while also navigating predominantly white social spaces. That balancing act — code-switching, people-pleasing, calculating which version of yourself is safest — is something many young Black women know intimately. Carter smartly weaponizes that tension and pushes it into full supernatural territory.

What begins as social anxiety and subtle gaslighting escalates into a psychological and spiritual assault rooted in an unresolved historical wrong committed against a Black family. The film reframes generational trauma through a horror lens, turning buried injustice into an entity that refuses to remain silent. In that regard, the premise is timely, relevant, and conceptually strong. Reclamation horror works best when it excavates history and forces it into the present. No-See-Um’s understands that.

Where the film becomes more complicated is in its aesthetic lineage. Carter is clearly a student of modern Black horror classics. The influence of Get Out and Candyman is unmistakable — in tone, structure, and even some of the supernatural staging. If those references are intentional acts of homage, then they feel like a filmmaker honoring the foundation laid before her. If they are strategic attempts to signal familiarity to a predominantly white horror audience, the film risks diluting some of its bite.

Still, the performances hold steady. Burt brings vulnerability and restraint to Ember, grounding the story even when the supernatural elements escalate. The young ensemble feels natural, avoiding caricature while still operating within recognizable genre tropes. Their dynamics reflect real social friction rather than exaggerated teen drama.

The entity known as Tilly, however, raises questions. The supernatural execution feels serviceable but not fully realized. There’s a sense that the film could have pushed further into a more distinct visual language rather than echoing familiar genre beats. The effects work does the job, but the conceptual presentation of the horror never quite evolves into something wholly its own.

What stands out most are the cultural breadcrumbs layered throughout the narrative — character names, historical nods, subtle references to Black legacy and lineage. Carter clearly understands the importance of embedding history into horror rather than simply using it as backdrop. For viewers attuned to those details, they add weight.

As someone actively writing reclamation horror fiction myself, it’s encouraging to see studios take risks on stories centered on young Black women navigating identity, trauma, and inherited injustice. That visibility matters. Whether audiences fully embrace No-See-Um’s may depend on how willing they are to engage with its themes rather than just its scares.

The film is not without its flaws, and it occasionally leans too comfortably into comparison. But comparisons can also be a form of acknowledgment. If Carter is building on the shoulders of giants, she’s at least attempting to carry the conversation forward.

No-See-Um’s earns a 2.5 out of 5 from Horror Movies Uncut. There’s a strong foundation here, a talented cast, and a filmmaker with clear passion for the genre. With a more distinct supernatural voice and greater differentiation from its influences, Carter’s next effort could land even harder.

Black horror continues to expand. And that alone is worth paying attention to.