Nia DaCosta's reimagining of 1992's "Candyman" is a faithful modernization of the cult horror classic.
Co-written with Jordan Peele, the film is a fitting tribute to the
original -- especially by the time it reaches its end. We've got everything you need to fully
understand the "Candyman" conclusion.
"Shh. Don't.
Don't say that."
As the urban legend of Candyman goes, if you say his name five times in a mirror,
he will appear ... to kill you. In 1992, this seemingly silly legend set the stage for a
complex film about race and local mythology in the Cabrini-Green housing project in Chicago.
Years later, in real life and in the "Candyman" universe, the housing project
has been demolished and replaced by luxury condos. This is how 2021's "Candyman" begins: as a movie
about gentrification. Anthony and Brianna are a Black couple who move into a newly rehabilitated building.
Anthony is a painter in an artistic rut -- until he finds inspiration in the legend
of Candyman. He learns about the community folklore from William Burke, a local who was
a child during the events of the original film. Burke tells Anthony the story of police murdering
a Black resident whom they believed to be giving candy with razor blades inside to local children.
As Anthony starts to create art inspired by the legend of Candyman and the history
of racial violence at Cabrini-Green, prominent figures in the Chicago art world begin getting
brutally murdered. The tension ratchets up after a seemingly innocuous bee sting leads Anthony's
hand to start decomposing into a burnt, fleshy monstrosity. He grows increasingly reclusive,
and distance gathers between him and Brianna. Slowly, Anthony begins to see his reflection
for what it really is, and realizes that he is becoming the Candyman.
At one point in the final act, Anthony visits his mother. In another smart
casting decision, the movie brings back Vanessa Williams as Anne-Marie,
creating a greater sense of continuity with the original. As Burke explains earlier in the film,
during the events of the original movie a woman's child was kidnapped by the Candyman
and rescued by Helen Lyle who lost her life in the process. Any fan of the 1992 cult
classic will recognize Williams as that child's mother: The child, then, was Anthony himself.
Anne-Marie then explains to Anthony that when he returned she knew — somehow — that
he was destined to be the next Candyman. In an attempt to have him grow up normally,
she sheltered him from all mentions of the legend. But it was all for nothing: His transformation
begins immediately after he attempts to summon the murderous figure for the first time.
It's not explained extremely well, but it seems that saying the phrase five times in the mirror
acts not just as a way for the average person to summon Candyman, but as an activation for
Anthony to become him.
"Be my victim."
Whatever happened when he was kidnapped passed on the Candyman gene — though that's technically not
how the lore works. In the past, a violent killing of a Black man would often lead
to a slew of Candyman murders. In Anne-Marie's explanation, it's unclear if there are therefore
multiple Candymen with separate origins, or if they all fuse into one supernatural entity.
William Burke is the most mysterious character in "Candyman," and it can be hard to determine
his motivations. So let's back up quickly and recap Burke's importance in the movie.
Prior to the climax, the last we see of Anthony is him returning to the abandoned
neighborhood where he first discovered the art depicting Candyman. When Brianna goes to
the laundromat to ask Burke where he might be, she is knocked unconscious and brought to an
empty church where she finds Anthony's entire body nearly succumbed to rot. Brianna escapes
Burke's nightmare church to a house that looks eerily familiar: Eagle-eyed viewers
will recognize it from earlier in the film as the first place Anthony sees any mention of Candyman.
Burke's history, which is inextricably linked to Anthony's discovery of and
evolution into Candyman, is explained through flashbacks that occur sporadically. As a kid,
he watched Sherman Fields, a local man who had a hook for a hand, get murdered by police.
He later saw Fields come back as Candyman: This flashback confirms Burke's genuine
belief in the legend. Burke also knew that Anthony was the baby Candyman had kidnapped,
and he waited patiently for decades to help him complete his transformation.
In the final moments of the film, several white police officers invade the house and
arrest Brianna after she shoots and kills Burke. Anthony's corpse lies next to his as Brianna is
forcefully escorted to the back of a cop car. She is threatened by the cop in the driver's
seat and promises to tell him everything if he can grant her one strange request:
She wants to see herself in the mirror. Brianna then summons Candyman, which seems like an insane decision.
But if we follow the logic that Anthony is the new Candyman, it helps explain why
she calls upon a murderous ghost in a moment of crisis: She's actually summoning her boyfriend,
Anthony, for help. But there is also one clear thematic reason behind her choice.
While Candyman has a history in the series of slaying people indiscriminately, that's starting
to change in the 2021 movie. In the evolving 'Candyman' universe, the symbolic figure is
beginning to become a vengeful answer to white violence, and a protector of the Black community.
The framing of the legend as the hero, instead of the monster, adds a powerful layer of commentary
to the final scene of Anthony, as Candyman, brutally executing a group of white cops.
"So he's real?"
"Candyman ain't a he. Candyman's the whole damn hive."
The abrupt and cryptic ending to "Candyman" comes with a final twist that might shed light on how the myth works.
During his final rampage, we see Anthony finally embracing his role as Candyman. As
his face becomes slowly engulfed by bees, Anthony kills the final police officer. The bees start to
dissipate as he walks toward Brianna, revealing that Anthony has been absorbed and consumed by Candyman.
The final shot of the movie is of actor Tony Todd's face, which has replaced Anthony's, as he growls a closing line.
"Tell… everyone."
"New to the neighborhood! Ha ha."
The final line is a confident mission statement,
one that is more meta-textual than anything. "Candyman" is back and (possibly) here to stay.
But this scene also marks the fulfillment of Anthony's destiny to be one with Candyman.
As he's consumed by the bees he becomes, like Sherman Fields and every other Candyman before
him, more than just a man. He becomes part of the symbol that is Candyman,
represented by Daniel Robitaille -- the original Candyman who, lore says, arose in the 1800s.
The final shot of Todd is a great homage to the original, but is it a final homage? It leaves
us wondering where the franchise can go from here, and whether that emphatic but cryptic proclamation
at the very end is Todd passing the torch or saying he is here to stay for another trilogy.
Not to crush your hopes for a "Candyman" cinematic universe, but there are no
current plans for a sequel to the 2021 film. However, the ending of "Candyman" does feel
an awful lot like a set-up for another movie. The abruptness of the ending shot plays much
better as a teaser for a sequel than a wrap on the events of this movie. And looking at
the whole movie symbolically, things begin to click into place. It acts as a passing of the
torch from Robitaille to Anthony. Todd is in his 60s now, so it makes sense to use this movie as a
ceremonial transfer of the Candyman title. Hopefully, this means we get a sequel to
this new "Candyman" with Yahya Adbul-Mateen wielding that hook to bloody effect. Of course,
it is always a treat to see Tony Todd -- even in those terrible '90s sequels -- but if "Candyman"
wants to thrive as a franchise, it may be time to let go of the past and pivot to a new Candyman.
"Say. His. Name. Candyman."
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