The Power (2021) Review

Never was a name more appropriate than the one chosen for writer and director Corinna Faith’s sensational, socially-charged, supernatural chiller set during the rolling blackouts in London during the early seventies.

The Power sees naive nurse Val (Rose Williams) desperate to impress in her new role at the London Royal Infirmary. Meeting her strict and stern Matron (Diveen Henry) she is told to behave, follow orders and never to speak to the male doctors – a rule she instantly unwittingly breaks upon meeting the friendly and sensitive Dr. Franklyn (Charlie Carrick). He seems far more progressive than many of the other uptight and archaic men and women staffing the hospital.

Put back in her place, she is punished for her disrespectful digression as the Matron forces her to work over night during the ‘dark shift’. This period of time is given its name due to electricity rationing that plagued the UK, brought on by an industrial dispute which sees entire sections of the labyrinthine building plunged into pitch black.

Already fearful of the dark, Val battles her own insecurities brought about by a damaged past while trying to take care of the sick and infirm, left alone in the almost empty building. With rampant discrimination and derogatory language the norm, the staff she meets make her task all the more uncomfortable. But when she starts to feel the presence of a malevolent entity and see things she can’t explain, things go from bad to insane. For Val it seems her first night in the job she always dreamed of having might also be her last.

Superbly scripted and directed by Corinna Faith, The Power perfectly displays the true power of horror to tackle subjects that many other genres can’t. Although fundamentally a haunted house shocker with elements of possession thrown in, the film actually tackles institutional sexism and racism, exposing the disgusting gender divide and repulsive attitudes that go unchallenged and are seen as completely acceptable by the majority of people on screen.

Val’s kind and caring nature, which led her to want to work in nursing in the first place, is twisted and used against her as we watch her be bullied and belittled by both male and female characters throughout the film. To the sleazy janitor Neville (Theo Barklem-Biggs) Val is just another piece of meat to adorn his wall of nurses pictures he is so disgustingly proud of. To Babs (Emma Catherine Rigby) who went to school with Val she is competition for the attention of the rich doctors, who she hopes will marry her and give her the money and life she could never gain as a woman without them.

Working on a number of levels, The Power challenges the viewer throughout, while firmly placing them in Val’s position so they can see, hear and feel the abuse she suffers through. A victim of childhood violence she has an affinity to the suffering and sick, including the young non-English speaking Indian girl Saba (Shakira Rahman) who she keeps coming across and seems intent on escaping the hospital.

This factor is also partly responsible for the violent and vengeful supernatural force that is targeting Val, and this element of the story is cleverly interweaved with the overall theme highlighting the cycle of abuse that is so easy for the damaged and disturbed to slip into.

A fellow nurse early on in the proceedings ominously utters “A place people die in should never be allowed to get that dark”. And the building in which the film is set is as much a character in The Power as everyone else, with the camera creeping down corridors and confusing Val and the viewer leaving a foreboding and frightening atmosphere to permeate the whole picture.

Moving people’s minds while they jump out of their seats, The Power manages to frighten and inform at the same time. A stunning movie with a great set of performances driven with heart and passion by Rose Williams this is a poignant and important picture showcasing how great horror can be at shining a light on our darkest prejudices.

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