The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster

Vicaria is a gifted teenager convinced that death is not an ending but a disease with a cure. When her brother is killed, she sets out to prove her theory and bring him back, a pursuit that pulls her into dangerous territory.

The horror film was released in June 2023 and runs 92 minutes. Bomani J. Story wrote and directed it, and also produced alongside Darren Brandl and Jack Davis, with Crypt TV behind the production. Laya DeLeon Hayes plays Vicaria, with Denzel Whitaker, Chad L. Coleman, Reilly Brooke Stith, Keith Holliday and Edem Atsu-Swanzy in supporting roles. It is a contemporary take on the Frankenstein story, moving Mary Shelley's material into a modern American setting. As Story's first feature as director, it arrived early in his career rather than as a later entry in an established filmography.

Reception split along clear lines. Critics gave it a 7.1 rating from 57 reviews, a solid showing for a low-budget debut. General audiences were less convinced: on IMDb it holds 5.3 from around 2,600 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.2 from a much smaller pool of 75 votes. The gap suggests critics responded to the film's ideas and craft more strongly than the wider public did.