by Audrey Callerstrom, Staff Writer

Witch Hunt

There are a lot of clues that Witch Hunt is a film for teens/preteens. It stars Gideon Adlon (daughter of Pamela Adlon), who was last seen as a witch in The Craft: Legacy. Title cards explain what an actual witch hunt is, and what “witch hunt” means as a political term, in case you didn’t know. The opening scene of a witch burning at the stake, which takes places in present day New England, carefully avoids showing any gore aside from some poor CGI. The film pivots to southern California, a social studies class. Claire (Adlon) is tasked to write a paper about one of the amendments. The 11th Amendment, written on the wall behind the teacher, stipulates that witchcraft is forbidden.

Witchcraft becomes an easy metaphor for an “other.” There’s even a witch hunter named Hawthorne (Christian Camargo) who appears later in the film, a nod to the author of The Scarlet Letter. Claire’s mom Martha (Elizabeth Mitchell, Lost), a noble and selfless woman, hides witches in her home between the walls so that they can cross the border into Mexico, where witches can seek asylum. Things go awry when her latest accomplice, disguised as someone who delivers jugs of water, is shot and killed by the BWI (Bureau of Witchcraft Investigation). Two young sisters, Fiona (Abigail Cowen) and Shae (Echo Campbell), daughters of the witch from the film’s opening scene, quickly become part of the family. Fiona and Claire, similar in age, form a tight bond. In the film’s strongest scene, Fiona and Claire go to a bar so that Fiona can show Claire her powers. Hands cupped around a water glass, she makes the water swirl in the air, a slide nod to the orbiting model planets in E.T.

Witch Hunt is the second film from Elle Callahan, a follow up to her 2018 horror/mystery debut Head Count. It never really embraces its dystopian world. At a terse 92 minutes, we don’t get a sense of how this world started, what motivates Martha, or how these anti-witchcraft laws affect anyone else outside of this small town. Aside from simply following the crowd, it’s not clear what motivates Claire’s anti-witch status, either. A major plot point revealed toward the film’s end is one the film hints at from the very beginning. Adlon is a capable lead, and her scenes with Abigail Cowen as Fiona are sweet and tender. The film even makes a nod toward Thelma and Louise in its final moments. Witch Hunt is a pretty safe viewing for a 12 year old girl, but adults will find it lacking.

Here Before

You had me at “Andrea Riseborough” and “psychological thriller.”

In just the last 12 months, Riseborough has quickly become one of my favorite actors working today. This started with her role as Tasya Vos in Brandon Cronenberg’s eerie and violent Possessor. Then, I saw her as a woman hiding a dark past in the drama/travel romance Luxor. In Here Before, the full length feature debut of writer Stacey Gregg, Riseborough plays Laura, a mother who silently grieves Josie, her daughter who died tragically years ago. She’s left with her accommodating husband Brendan (Jonjo
O’Neill) and her less-than-affectionate teen son Tadhg (Lewis McAskie). Laura brightens up when a young girl named Megan (Niamh Dornan) moves next door, a dead ringer in mannerisms to Josie, and similar in age if Josie were still alive.

Laura starts to cross boundaries by spending a lot of time with Megan. She picks her up from school, invites her over to dinner. Tadhg develops an animosity toward Megan. Laura uncovers a children’s drawing of Megan’s, showing her family as Laura, Brendan, and Tadhg. Megan, new to their small Ireland town, comments that she’s been here before, even though the family has moved from far away. Laura and Megan wear parkas in the same color of marigold yellow, suggesting a kinship between them. Laura begins to suspect that Megan is Josie reincarnated; Brendan suspects that his wife is losing her mind. The backdrop of small town Ireland, with its lush green hills, is juxtaposed against the cloudy, cold weather, and similarly, the cold reception that Laura receives from Megan’s mom (Eileen O’Higgins).

Riseborough, possibly fresh off filming Possessor since she still has platinum blond hair, delivers another great performance. Laura says she’s going crazy, but we believe, because we want to believe, that there is a link between Laura and Megan. Who was Laura before she lost her daughter? She mostly spends her time in her garden, and tolerating retorts from her angsty son. The family of three enjoys a getaway after things get tense, but Laura’s heart still aches for Josie/Megan. A prolonged dream sequence, set to a nursery rhyme-type song, outstays its welcome, particularly due to the choice of the song as well as the overall dreamlike pacing of the rest of the film. There are some deliberate color choices here that pop. One particular shot of Laura in the marigold parka, filmed at night, gives it more of a muted orange hue. There’s a repeating shot of Laura tying Josie’s hair with a green ribbon. The mystery of Megan builds to a satisfying resolution, but it’s Riseborough’s thoughtful performance as Laura that makes Here Before worth watching.