The Love Witch (2016)

There is absolutely no doubt that Anna Biller, who wrote and directed The Love Witch (and edited, and composed, and costumed, and did the set work and art direction and some of the makeup and produced and made this thing from top to bottom), did something visually breathtaking and completely singular with her labour of love.

Beyond that, it becomes hard to sit on objectives: fans of film as a whole will appreciate it for its composition as a love letter to the exploitation films of the 70s, but beyond the novelty factor, I suspect that this movie will quickly wear thin on a lot of viewers. It follows the story of a new-in-town witch whose desperation to find her ideal man sees weaker men getting twisted up in her web of sex and love and spell-casting, and a trail of bodies starts to build up. The slightly stilted delivery and just parallel to reality action feels straight out of those 70s films - I draw a lot of Argento comparisons, mostly due to the use of colour, and stand by my description of it as Argento-meets-tumblr-moodboard. Hyperreal. It’s a great quality to have, and it works with the slight anachronisms and is completely anchored in the performances - Samantha Robinson is outstanding, and carries the whole thing.

This is by no means a perfect film and my viewing of it is going to differ wildly to the next viewer. With Biller in the editors seat, many have commented on her apparent dedication to what she’d already filmed, large amounts of unnecessary footage do render it overlong. At times, it’s hard to work out whether it’s being self-indulgent or self-effacing - and then there are times when it is quite clearly being self-indulgent. The feminist critique will be a huge dividing factor on reception - I can imagine it being found preachy, hypocritical, or confused. I personally loved having a main character whose devotion to men was her absolute hubris, and who brought about destruction at every turn. It’s such a fun deconstruction of your massacre, sex-and-slashing films, especially when shot with such devotion and clear appreciation of them. To me, it’s something that you can take away different readings from, or you can just appreciate on an aesthetic, silly slashie level. The editing makes that tough to do sometimes, because this movie is long. My god, it is long. It's long and there are long segments that feel unfocused or stylistic for the sake of it. I was enthralled by nearly all of the shots from a cinematographic perspective, but I would find myself blanking on the actual plot because it would be neglected in the movie itself.

When I initally reviewed this movie, I gave it a higher rating. I was valuing style and individuality above all else. As time and distance have gone on, I've come to the conclusion that beyond a few striking images, the movie didn't really leave me with anything. When I talk about a move with someone, I want to be able to share the reasons it was important and the things that meant a lot to me. Beyond a unique aesthetic and a strong female voice with an interesting perspective, none of the emotional hits were made and everything else about this movie felt disconnected. It still deserves to be watched, and to be praised for its considerable accomplisments - Biller specifically - but I wanted to really re-examine things.

Rating: 6/10 - It was something very different to everything I’ve watched recently, a interesting take on rampant contemporary nostalgia and women in horror and a blend of love and critique. Who knows what is ever meant and what is unintentional, but on a personal level, I found this movie beautiful and - though long and confused - fascinating.