Director: Alexandra Senza
Year: 2022
Country: Canada
Alternative Titles: N/A
Genre: Witchcraft
Plot:
Trying to live her life as normal, a teen living with her tormented sister tries to get to the bottom of the series of haunting incidents surrounding her sister, and when the signs lead to a coven of witches that lived in the area hundreds of years earlier must try to unravel the source of the terror.
Review:
Overall, this was a pretty solid if flawed genre effort. When this one works is due to the rather impressive setup that transpires here regarding the awakening of the supernatural powers in her and how she deals with them. The constant flashes to the two witches in the past conducted their own rite, the flashes of something supernatural following her around and deciphering the dreams to the point of finding the coven all serve this one nicely in establishing a fun setup to the realization of what’s going on. Knowing the connection of the witches’ use of the area in the past by seeing the different rituals in the forest or the signs that she’s been right all along helps to give this a fun overall setup.
However, what makes all of this that much better is the sister connection between the two that takes place here. Seeing how much they both care for each other and try to establish a means of helping each other, whether it’s in dealing with the tormenting visions at the beginning or the newfound freedom from the restrained lifestyle of before once they arrive at the campsite, brings everything together full-circle. The clever switch involving who has to take care of who at those differing points in the film creates a perfect balance that furthers the bond shared even further so that the tension is quite genuine once the threat finally emerges. With some impressive make-up and gore in these scenes as well as some of the only real action in this one, this has really kicks up the energy considerably and serves this one quite well giving it a lot to really like.
There are some issues to be had with this one. The main drawback here is the dragged-out first half that makes for a slightly more troubling effort than it should be considering the overall length of the film in general. With far too much time here spent on the setup to get her sister to the mystical doctor in the first place, this feels repetitive and rather overlong with how much goes on before they finally get to the campsite, this really takes a while to get going by focusing on elements that could’ve been shortened to get to the point faster. That would’ve also allowed the more traditional genre elements into the film faster with most of these factors making for a drama-like feel without much in the way of genre activity happening until quite late in the film which can make for a somewhat unappealing experience.
Overview: ***/5
While there’s a lot to like here, the films’ flaws do manage to stick out readily enough that it’s an issue to be had but not crippling enough to be detrimental since the positives on display are that enjoyable. Those who appreciate the style or approach taken here will have a lot to like with this one, while those who are turned off by those issues or the flaws in general should heed caution here.
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