She Will

I knew pretty much nothing about Charlotte Colbert's "She Will" when I started watching it, making it more interesting. This story of a faded actress who seeks treatment in a facility located on the former site of burning women accused of witchcraft has some intense scenes. The intensity is mostly found in the actress's disturbing memories. In that sense, I guess that the movie's saying that the worst horrors are the real ones.

While not anything great, this movie is more interesting than movies where people walk into rooms to get butchered. On top of that, it gives us some great shots of the Scottish countryside. Worth seeing for that, if nothing else.

The difficulty in writing and directing such a metaphorical, artful story such as this is that it becomes very easy to veer into pretentious and inaccessible territory.

There are times in She Will when this does happen, and the logical rules of the story and the feelings of the characters are often unclear. But thankfully, the film never stays in this territory for too long.

What keeps this tale investing is the quiet, mysterious performances, the odd yet entrancing visual effects/cinematography, and the satisfying pace at which the curtain is pulled back and the audience gets answers to their questions.

At times the metaphors are too heavy-handed to the point that it's a disservice to the characters, but most of the time it was refreshing to see subtle nuances in a movie like this that has a clear feminist message.

Certainly this isn't a film for everyone, but for those who like thought-provoking art, there's quite a bit of good to be found here.

Amazing atmosphere building; no cheap red herrings or jump scares here. Just a solidly crafted macab tale. I wouldnt even go as far as to fully call this horror despite the horror aesthetics. More of a fantasy and witchy revenge tale in a way.

If you like really atmosphere driven storytelling then you will adore it, but it definitely isnt for everyone as its VERY atmosphere driven. It's 70% visually told and it errs in the side of the unknown instead of fully explaining the phenomena in dialogue. I thought it was pretty straightforwardly told and satisfying though.

'She Will' does the basic revenge plot in the evil men setting that is popular these days.

It was only 95 minutes, with around 30 of those just being beautiful nature shots with good music, yet it still felt like slow motion finalized by an abrupt ending.

Only Krige's character was significant, with everyone else just being vague plot devices. There was barely any character essence besides purely evil men and a couple of victims to show how bad all men are.

I enjoyed the cinematography, the music, and some themes of harmony with nature. If not for Krige, this would've been a disaster since she was able to handle those vague thematic sequences.

The film had nothing else to offer: no character deep dives, barely any dialogue, and thus - no emotional connection.

All that matters is those evil men get what they deserve. Everything else (the more interesting parts) doesn't really matter. Why cultivate the relationship between the two heroines, add variety to the film, and create a ground for discussion and emotional engagement? We don't need that. Why not write a good story? I'd love to invest emotionally into a revenge story. They had grounds for an interesting dive into the lead's psyche but did nothing with that.

I don't think I can recommend this film since it never goes beyond prepackaged stereotypes. The tags are also messy: comedy, drama, horror? There was indeed no comedy and no horror.

Greetings again from the darkness. Coming from the IFC Midnight stable, this first feature film from writer-director Charlotte Colbert and co-writer Kitty Percy, may be judged as a thriller or horror, depending on one's perspective. By creating an ominous atmosphere, the movie highlights how certain events can grab hold and remain with us, often buried deeply, for our entire life. We don't always know how these memories will manifest or how or when we deal with them, but if the scars remain, a reckoning likely follows.

Alice Krige is perfectly cast as Veronica, an aging movie star. She's coming off a double mastectomy and is expressing more than a touch of grumpiness towards her much younger nurse Desi, played well by relative newcomer Kota Eberhardt. Veronica has booked an extended stay for rehabilitation at an isolated countryside manor, and though she and Desi have a private cabin on the grounds, Veronica is quite miffed that there are other guests in the main house ... with odd therapy sessions led by Tirador (played by an almost unrecognizable Rupert Everett).

Almost immediately, strange things begin to occur and much of it is related to the earth and ground. The mud seems to have supernatural effects on Veronica's visions and dreams. This is explained as healing power due to the heavy presence of ashes from witches burned at the stake many years prior. The memories of a traumatic event return to Veronica. She was a child actor in a film by the legendary Hathbourne (the always great Malcolm McDowell), and now he is re-casting for a remake of that film. So as Veronica faces her perceived loss of femininity at the edge of scalpel, she's also dealing with fears of aging as the same filmmaker recreates a project she is now too old for.

Symbolism is entrenched in the film, and the approach to Veronica's revenge on Hathbourne is handled through mysticism that can't easily be explained ... though it's a welcome new approach to the #metoo movement. One of my favorite aspects of the film is how the initial gulf between Veronica and Desi gradually changes as the two generations of women bond over their strength. Italian 'Master of Horror' Dario Argento is a producer on the film, and though we don't know what input he had, it's quite a compliment to Ms. Colbert to state her debut film deserves to be mentioned alongside his.