It's hard to diagnose the world right now... I don't know if that's our job to do

Stars Corey Hawkins, Willem Dafoe, Anna Diop and director Nadia Latif discuss psychological thriller The Man In My Basement's themes of race relations and the past's long shadow.

- By YOLANTHE FAWEHINMI

ASK Willem Dafoe and Corey Hawkins to diagnose the current state of the world, and they admit wouldn’t even know where to begin.

However, since working on their new film, The Man In My Basement, adapted from Walter Mosley’s 2004 novel of the same name, the American actors have gained a deeper understanding of some of the ideas and perspectives that have shaped modern-day society.

“You see what you see of the world, and don’t always get the whole picture,” says multiple Oscar nominee Willem, 70, as he sits in a hotel room in Canada during the Toronto International Film Festival. “Because it’s grounded in your experiences and where you're coming from. So you are constantly juggling conditions and aspirations, with the knowledge you do and don’t have.”

Corey, 36, known for his roles in Straight Outta Compton and The Walking Dead, adds: “It’s really hard to diagnose the world right now, and sometimes I don’t know if that’s our job to do.

“As artists, our job is to reflect it and be mirrors. And I think that’s what this movie does best. I think Charles is also a mirror in the world as well.”

Mosley’s book addresses the weight of the past on both black and white communities and these themes are at the fore in this psychological thriller. Corey stars as downtrodden Charles Blakey, who is on the verge of losing his ancestral home in the historic village of Sag Harbor in New York.

He's the last remaining member of his family and is struggling to come up with enough money to pay for the mortgage.