She Will

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.

As usual, a lot of the reviews here will tell more about the reviewers than they will about the movie...'slow...boring...all about evil men...seen this (too) many times in the last few years'.

It is slow if you want freddy kruger or jason. But it's not that kind of horror movie...in fact, i recently mentioned in a letter to a friend that there should be a 'supernatural' category, rather than 'horror' because that would warn the zombie lovers that it's not that kind of movie and save them the frustration of watching and me the frustration of reading their usual type of review... it's mostly a visually stimulating movie...producing just the right mood for the story which seems only to be brought out in a few places...but, for me, it was very satisfying...a feast for the eyes.

Krige, as usual, does well in this film...as do all the other players whom, mostly, seem peripheral to the small story at the core.

Not horror as much as supernatural and not for the red bull guzzling kids.

'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.

First off, I must say that the cinematography is absolutely stunning and the acting was great. What made the film worth watching however, was Clint Mansell's score. A masterpiece.

There's basically no real dialogue in the film. It's 98% imagery, i didn't mind at first, but halfway through it became so redundant and exhausting to watch a film with no conversations. This uber-Indie, "i'm so alternative" avant-garde nonsense became unspeakably annoying. The whole film is just a collection of vivid dreams and paranoias, with one or two words thrown in.

Also, easily one of the most abrupt, "what just happened here?" kind of endings.

I only finished watching it because i loved the music. I'm quite disappointed. I really wanted to love it, but it was 100% just beautifully boring.

My recommendation? Skip the movie and just listen to the soundtrack.

First of all, this is not a horror movie. It uses horror elements, but I would categorize it as a psychological drama with supernatural elements, and it moves more slowly and deliberately than horror films tend to do. The plot here is simple, and intends to be. It's only a vehicle for the portrait. The complexities are lyrical and poetical. As others have noted, the film is gorgeously shot, and the imagery is wonderfully constructed. The image that frames the movie is "explained" in the end by a single line, delivered by the always otherworldly Alice Krige, who turns in a stellar performance. Indeed, in many ways this is her movie, as well as her meta-movie, and it to Colbert's credit that she, Colbert, lets her have her way with it. Colbert is an interesting director, and one to watch. This is a strong film and deserves a wider audience.