The Criterion Channel included Eve’s Bayou in its Southern Gothic series this past August, and for good reason. Kasi Lemmons’ feature debut is steeped in sticky, swampy 1960s Louisiana, at a Creole family’s mansion where 10-year-old Eve (Jurnee Smollett) witnesses her father (Samuel L. Jackson) stepping out on her mother. A series of increasingly violent conflicts and betrayals ensue, complicated by Eve’s gift of second sight. The Carver Museum pairs this with Ma, an Octavia Spencer-starring psychological horror about a freaky middle-aged vet tech with a bowl cut who invites the local teenagers to hang out and drink in her basement. Like all great horror villains, she has a tragic backstory that kinda makes you root for her. A banging double feature carried by a litany of powerhouse Black actresses. – Lina Fisher
