We’ve seen lots of movies about witches. They tend to be boo! films, or creepy atmospheric stuff, or jokey strange comedies. You Won’t Be Alone kind of is with its take on a witch’s tale. But I’d trade hours of mediocre horror for something as interesting as this film anyday. Plus, props to Macedonia set movies, 2 for 2!
We’re in 18th century Macedonia for this one. A young mother is tragically beset upon by a witch, Maria (Anamaria Marinca), who wants to eat of her child, Nevena. The mother begs the witch to let Nevena live, promising to give Nevena away when Nevena is 16 years old to Maria so she can not live alone. Scared for her daughter, Nevena’s mom hides her for 16 years, isolating her from the world until Maria comes to claim her new “daughter.” Maria gives Nevena (initally played by Sara Klimoska) time to explore the world around her, as the young witch learns what goes on in the world she never got to experience.
Writer/director Goran Stolevski has a witch, but is not a witch movie. The basic rules we need to know are established right away: they don’t really die, they’re strong, and they can shapeshift into the people/creatures they kill. From that basic premise Stolevski upends witch storytelling to be centered around the concept of identity. Through shapeshifting, young Nevena gets to essentially become different parts of Macedonian society; remember, a society she was kept apart from for 16 years. Through completely innocent objective eyes, Nevena gets to see the good, the bad, and the ugly of living like a human being under a certain set of rules. Even though her isolation was probably super boring for her, Nevena knew she was loved by her mother and “new mother” as she called it, and that early love informs all of her decisions and actions she takes as she immerses herself into society for long periods of time, with Maria lingering around keeping an eye on her.
As Nevena’s life evolves and changes, so does Maria’s presence in her life. Things snap into place with a well laid backstory tale. Stolevski’s story smartly shows how experiences shaped both of these witches, and how those experiences lead them to certain choices they make. While Maria can certainly be menacing constantly using her power with her creepy looks, she’s much more complicated than that by the end of the film, a fascinating parallel compared to Nevena with how each view various personal characteristics: love, strength, beauty, sex, violence, etc. Lazier writing would have made Maria some sort of 3rd act villain necessary for Nevena to battle in a CGI slugfest. But in You Won’t Be Alone, those battles are more spiritual and human, making the payoffs much more potent and in the end rewarding.
You Won’t Be Alone in thinking that you’re watching something cool with Goran Stolevski’s take on Macedonian witches. Also you won’t be alone thinking Noomi Rapace is back on the up & up. After bursting onto the scene playing Lisbeth Salander and an Alien heroine, Rapace left Hollywood to take on more small, interesting projects and show why we all fell in love with her in the first place. I look forward to her next A24 horror film directed by Ari Aster.