Witch Hunt

This year, the official selection of the SXSW festival has allowed us to discover more than twenty films, including some that have totally won us over. Certainly the young writer and director Elle Callahan who signs with Witch Hunt her second film after Head Count delivers a real event film that reminds us by some sides the universe of Harry Potter but especially that of Twilight by tackling a recurring theme of the fantastic cinema, witchcraft and by placing the framework of the story in a society in which witchcraft exists and is considered as a punishable crime to the point of continuing to burn witches and by hunting them on all the American territory. In this alternative America, only Mexico seems to be the land of welcome for its witches whether they are good or bad, no distinction is made.

The cleverly crafted scenario mixes with a rare success and intelligence fantasy and horror film and above all totally captures our attention thus succeeding in creating a real universe conducive to future developments. We discover the young Claire (Gideon Adlon from The Craft: Legacy), whose mother Martha (Elizabeth Mitchell) hides witches before they are smuggled to Mexico, where they will receive asylum and can live freely without having to hide.

Claire realizes with the arrival of two young sisters Shae (Echo Campbell) and Fiona (Abigail Cowen) in her home that witches are beings like themselves with just one more gift and that they unfortunately don't have the time or opportunity to learn how to use that gift. Hunted by a mysterious federal agent Hawthorn (Christian Camargo) of the BWI, Claire will realize that she also has a gift linked to her past and related to a part of her family.

If Witch Hunt proves to be so effective, it is because it deals with witchcraft as some Marvel Studios movies did with the X-men universe. One could thus make an interesting parallel between a government hunting mutants and the American society described here, which does not hesitate to test, hunt and put so-called normal individuals on watch lists. To this end, the various tests carried out in Claire's school give the film some striking scenes, notably a memorable one taking place in a swimming pool in which students are tested underwater to find out if they are witches or not.

For her second film, Callahan can rely on an excellent cast but above all she shows a real mastery to use spectacular special effects at crucial moments of the plot. In the same way the scenario seems to show that in this universe there are only witches and that this gift is transmitted from generation to generation. Those who are considered witches cannot get a driver's license, nor have rights such as going to the movies or moving around freely. Witch hunt is not only fascinating but also manages to mix scenes worthy of the best horror productions with fantastic elements such as this scene in a bar where Fiona and Claire discuss the witches' gift.

Another strong idea is the homage to Ridley Scott's landmark film Thelma and Louise (1991) in which two friends, Thelma and Louise, frustrated by a monotonous existence, one with her husband, the other with her boyfriend, decide to treat themselves to a weekend on the beautiful roads of Arkansas. A tragic event will change the course of their lives forever and lead to a twilight finale that has a strange repercussion here.

Certainly Witch Hunt is an event film that has totally conquered us and that we will see again with the same pleasure and we hope that this one will know a release in theaters instead of a simple diffusion on a streaming platform like Netflix or Prime Video.

Witch Hunt
Written and directed by Elle Callahan
Produced by Eric B. Fleischman, Maurice Fadida
Executive Producer: Elizabeth Mitchell, Mickey Gooch, Jr. and Victor Shapiro
Starring Gideon Adlon, Elizabeth Mitchell, Abigail Cowen, Nicholas & Cameron Crovetti, Christian Camargo
Music by Blitz//Berlin
Cinematography: Nico Aguilar, Tommy Oceanak
Edited by Nick Garnham Wright
Release date : March 18, 2021 (SXSW), March 29, 2021 (UK)
Running time : 97 minutes

Seen on March 20, 2021 (SXSW)

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