The Man in My Basement, a thriller movie directed and co-written by Nadia Latif in her feature directorial debut, is based on the novel of the same name by Walter Mosley, who also co-wrote the screenplay. The film stars Corey Hawkins, Willem Dafoe, Anna Diop, and Tamara Lawrance. It premiered in the Discovery section at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in select theaters on September 12, 2025.
The film follows African American man Charles Blakey (Corey Hawkins) in Sag Harbor, New York, who is struggling with bad luck and is about to lose his ancestral home when a strange white businessman with a European accent (Willem Dafoe) approaches him to rent his basement for the summer.
According to 4filming, The Man in My Basement was filmed in Cardiff and Carmarthenshire, Wales, even though the story is set in the United States. The locations were selected with the aim of being able to reproduce suburban Long Island as well as offer practical filming conditions.
As reported by the BBC, Marjorie Welsby, a resident of a Grade II-listed wooden property in Llandybie, Carmarthenshire, shared that the production team contacted her about filming on the property:
"We got a note through the door last year from someone saying they wanted to make a film in the area, we initially thought they just wanted shots of the house's exterior, but they ended up filming inside too, They stripped out our whole downstairs and put it in storage - all the fittings and furnishings - in order to turn it into an antiques and quilting shop for the shoot.''She further added:
''We managed to have a peek at what they'd done and it was a very strange feeling to walk into your own home and feel you've never been there before, but, by the time it was all over, everything had been put back in exactly the same place as where we'd left it."Filming locations of The Man in My Basement

The Man in My Basement was filmed mainly in Cardiff with additional scenes shot in Carmarthenshire, Wales.
- Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom: The main production took place in Cardiff, where interior scenes and neighborhood exteriors were filmed. Principal photography began on January 30, 2024.
- Carmarthenshire (including Llandybie), Wales: Additional scenes were filmed in Carmarthenshire, particularly in Llandybie near Ammanford. A Grade II-listed wooden house on Ammanford Road was used for both interior and exterior sequences. The homeowners, Marjorie and David Welsby, temporarily relocated during filming, and all furniture and fittings were restored afterward. The surrounding streets and countryside helped recreate the feel of Long Island’s small-town neighborhoods.
Production and other details of The Man in My Basement
The Man In My Basement is based on Walter Mosley's novel, dealing with issues of morality, racial identity, and survival. Nadia Latif worked with Mosley on the screenplay so that the tension and character emphasis of the story could be preserved.
Ula Pontikos directed cinematography, and principal photography was wrapped up by late March or early April 2024. Real locations and controlled interior sets were used to shoot the suspenseful environment of the story. Good Gate Media produced the film in association with US and UK co-producers.
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Edited by Ankur Pandey