Inherit the Witch (2024) by Cradeaux Alexander

Director: Cradeaux Alexander

Year: 2024

Country: United Kingdom

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Witchcraft

Plot:

Heading back to his family house, a man reunites with his estranged family for their father’s funeral which soon starts to stir up revelations about the occult past of their legacy featuring his bloodline as a means of ending the threat posed to him and his family through their actions.

Review:

This was a pretty solid and generally enjoyable genre effort. Among its better features is the rather strong setup that allows for a fun time here unraveling a series of intricate plot threads throughout here. The central setup of the family gathering together for the funeral and getting the chance to unravel all of their neurosis and baggage with each other, from the failed relationships, the estranged nature of the siblings, and the different lifestyles everyone leads creates a fine grounding for the dynamics that play a large part in what unfolds when everyone arrives. Knowing that there’s a series of secrets hidden beneath everything that helps to underline the way they’ve acted and changed over time as we get flashbacks to their childhood that features all sorts of occult happenings adds a fine layer to everything which gives this a strong overall setup.

That setup also gives the film a chance to run wild with the supernatural shenanigans when it gets going. As we realize early on that there’s a legacy of witchcraft in the family with the series of performances that signal nefarious witchcraft ties, it goes nicely along with the reveals about the bloodline and how the cult of worshippers around her have gathered to put a plan in motion for it to continue on that becomes the starting point for their supernatural influence to take shape. Controlling others to carry out attacks on those who wrong them, influencing dreams and nightmares, and trapping others in a never-ending series of torment that soon play a huge role in the revelation about everything coming from a family curse to continue taking shape. These are imaginatively realized and provide some solid shocks alongside the gruesome effects on this kind of budget, giving it a lot to like overall.

There isn’t much to this one that holds it down. The main factor with this one is the lack of surprise accomplished by a routine story that features all the expected elements in such a similar setup. Strained family dynamics, dysfunctional relatives, a centuries-old curse, and misguided power struggles are all in play as the well-worn track of a generational curse in the bloodline needing to come to pass is integrated throughout this one which helps to spell out what’s going on so easily it becomes quite easy to guess with the sometimes leaden pacing really making that stand out even more. It’s not helped by the other big issue here in who we’re supposed to be rooting for with everything taking place, as none of the family members are likable and the generic nature of the witch cult makes them pretty bland when not carrying spells out so with no real gore or physical trauma they come off pretty underwhelming much like the others which hold this one down the most.

Overview: ***/5

An overall enjoyable if somewhat flawed feature, there’s enough to like here that it’s worthwhile at what it is although it’s still somewhat let down by a few nagging factors from what it could’ve been. Those who are intrigued by this type of feature or enjoy the approach taken here while most others out there should heed caution.