Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) lives in the recently gentrified estate of Cabrini-Green in Chicago. As an artist struggling to find inspiration he is intrigued by the local legend of the Candyman and sets out to understand if he can use it as a muse. But the legend will get under his skin more than he imagined. 

This film is a direct sequel to the 1992 original and whilst it does an excellent job of imparting the important aspects of the story via some fantastic shadow puppet sequences I have to say that having a quick refresher or repeat viewing of the original will add a lot of depth to your enjoyment. That is not to say it is not enjoyable as a stand alone film, just that it gains more from greater understanding of how it links into a film made 29 years ago. 

The plot delves much deeper into the original films idea that the local residents of Cabrini-Green use the Candyman legend as a way to cope with their hardship. The racial injustice and persecution of black residents of the ghetto created the legend whilst the recent gentrification of the ghetto simply resulted in rich (and generally white) people pushing them out of their homes again. 

I have to say I really enjoyed Anthony’s descent into madness, the layers to the legend and the call backs to the original film. The argument that the Candyman is not a real supernatural entity and is merely a manifestation of racial injustice is always a much more interesting story to me than simply that a monster kills people. In fact there is only one scene that seemed out of place and that is where five school girls invoke the legend in a school bathroom. It seemed as though it was made purely for it to be inserted into the trailer to appeal to the slasher stereotype. 

Co-writer/director Nia DaCosta and co-writers Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld have done an excellent job of honouring the original and creating their own story. Whilst Abdul-Mateen is a fantastic foil as their lead character. 

Hang around for the entire credits to see more of the beautiful shadow puppets that tell the history of the Candyman.