Suicide by Sunlight: Nikyatu Jusu directing vampire movie for Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions

Writer/director Nikyatu Jusu’s feature directorial debut Nanny, the first horror film to win the U.S. Grand Jury Prize for drama at the Sundance Film Festival, will be receiving a theatrical release on November 23rd, then will reach Amazon Prime Video on December 16th. With her movie about it makes its way out into the world, Jusu is now focusing on her next projects – and we know she has at least two more horror movies in development. Last month, it was announced that Jusu will be directing a sequel to George A. Romero‘s 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead (a sequel that is being produced by Romero’s ex-wife Christine Romero), and now Deadline has confirmed that Jusu is working on a vampire movie for Jordan Peele’s production company Monkeypaw Productions. This vampire project is a feature expansion of Jusu’s short film Suicide by Sunlight, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019.

As described by Jusu, Suicide by Sunlight was “about day-walking Black vampires who are protected from the sun by their melanin.” Deadline gave a bit more information, saying the short film was “set in a near-future New York City, and tells the story of Valentina (Natalie Paul), who finds it difficult to suppress her bloodlust when a new woman is introduced to her estranged twin daughters.” Jusu is writing the feature expansion with Fredrica Bailey.

While at Deadline’s Contenders Film: Los Angeles awards-season event, Jusu also took a moment to discuss her Night of the Living Dead follow-up, saying, “The original made social commentary about racism and classism and all the -isms, and the best zombie films make commentary on humanity. I have the blessing from George Romero’s estate, and so that feels really good because it feels organic.”

We’ll keep you updated on both Suicide by Sunlight and the Night of the Living Dead sequel as they continue to move forward. In the meantime, we’ll have Nanny to watch very soon. Described as a “psychological horror fable of displacement”, Nanny follows Aisha, a woman who recently emigrated from Senegal and is hired to care for the daughter of an affluent couple living in New York City. Haunted by the absence of the young son she left behind, Aisha hopes her new job will afford her the chance to bring him to the U.S., but becomes increasingly unsettled by the family’s volatile home life. As his arrival approaches, a violent presence begins to invade both her dreams and her reality, threatening the American dream she is painstakingly piecing together.

Anna Diop (Titans) stars as Aisha and is joined in the cast by Michelle Monaghan (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), Sinqua Walls (American Soul), Morgan Spector (The Mist TV series), Rose Decker (Mare of Easttown), and Leslie Uggams (Deadpool).

Here’s the short version of Suicide by Sunlight: