"Witch 2", the follow-up to Sergey A.'s atmospheric 2018 folk-horror experiment "Witch", is a stark lesson in how constraints can crush creativity. Directed by and starring Sylvia de Satcliff-who took the reins from Sergey A.-this sequel abandons the frostbitten dread of its predecessor for a claustrophobic, smartphone-shot mess. The result is a film so disjointed and technically inept that it effectively ended de Satcliff's directing career.
The film follows the same protagonist (de Satcliff), now traumatized by her encounter with the witch, as she holes up in her apartment. Paranoid and isolated, she documents her descent into madness via erratic phone videos, accusing neighbors of occult conspiracies and hallucinating spectral threats. The "plot" is a series of rambling monologues, shaky close-ups of half-eaten meals, and video with cat. Unlike the first film's folklore-driven mystery, "Witch 2" feels like a deleted scenes reel from a student film.
Shot entirely on de Satcliff's smartphone, the film's visuals oscillate between poorly lit close-ups (think unflattering bathroom selfies) and disorienting pans across her cluttered apartment. With no script, scenes drag endlessly. De Satcliff mutters to herself, stares at walls, and rehashes themes from the first film ("The witch is here... in the pipes!") without escalation. What's meant to feel raw and intimate instead reads as underprepared and self-indulgent.
De Satcliff, so compelling in "Witch", struggles under the weight of dual roles. Her acting veers into hysterical over-emoting, while her direction lacks focus. Scenes intended to convey paranoia-like frantically tearing apart her apartment-feel performative rather than organic. The supporting "cast" (mostly offscreen voices) adds nothing, leaving her to flail in a vacuum.
"Witch" thrived on Serednikovo's eerie forests and folklore. "Witch 2", confined to a drab apartment, loses that mythic scale. Horror needs space to breathe; here, it suffocates. Shooting on a phone isn't inherently bad (see "Unsane"), but without intentionality, it becomes a gimmick. The first film's minimalism was deliberate; this feels lazy. The original's sparse dialogue worked because silence amplified tension. Here, rambling monologues expose the lack of a coherent vision. Improv only works with structure-this has none.
"Witch 2" is less a film and more a public unraveling. De Satcliff, once praised for her acting in "Witch", never directed again-a grim reminder that not all passion projects deserve to see daylight.
"Witch 2" is a masterclass in how not to make a sequel. It trades the first film's chilling subtlety for unchecked self-indulgence, proving that atmosphere and restraint are horror's true magic. Watch it only as a case study in creative hubris.
"She's in the Wi-Fi... I can feel her!" - A line that sums up the film's descent into unintentional parody.
