Video: Director Cheryl Dunye Feels Born to Direct ‘Lovecraft Country’

I’ve seen a lot of movies. I’ve seen a lot of television shows.

But I’ve seldom seen a director so perfectly match their material as with director Cheryl Dunye and her Lovecraft Country contribution, “Strange Case.” In the fifth episode of HBO’s hit drama series, Ruby (Wunmi Mosaku) discovers a potion that allows her to adopt the skin of a white woman. The episode adopts an intensely sexual and gory approach, something akin to the work of David Cronenberg.

Yet, Dunye, working with series creator Misha Green, put her own designs on the material. The episode’s themes of race, sex, gender, and sexual identity are topics Dunye previously explored in her earlier work, including her feature film debut The Watermelon Woman.

“Strange Case” brilliantly conveys its themes without shying away from the graphic possibilities. It continues the trend of Black filmmakers exploring similar themes through the fantasy, sci-fi, or horror genres. In addition to deftly handling the complex theming, Dunye directs Mosaku and actress Jamie Neumann to career-best performances. The episode isn’t for the weak-hearted, but it rewards patience and a strong constitution with series-best work.

Here, AwardsDaily’s Clarence Moye sits down virtually with Cheryl Dunye. They discuss her career and personal inspirations. She reveals how she helped guide Neumann in her daunting efforts to portray Mosaku’s Ruby in white skin. She also talks about the episode’s other major plot line, Montrose (Michael K. Williams) struggling to accept his own sexuality.

The perfect material so perfectly matches the director that we’ll undoubtedly see her exploring the same things through future projects very soon.

Lovecraft Country’s “Strange Case” streams on HBO Max.