Director: Anna Biller
Writers: Anna Biller
Starring: Samantha Robinson, Jeffrey Vincent Parise, Laura Waddel, Gian Keys
Genre: Horror, Comedy
When I first saw the trailer for The Love Witch, I really had no idea what to think. It looked goofy and campy–an odd fit to run before American Honey, to be sure. But when I saw it before Moonlight, I was pretty convinced that it was a movie I wanted to see.
The trailer actually does a really good job of showcasing what the film is. It’s really just a fun, campy, throwback to horror. It establishes a 1950’s-1960’s aesthetic early on and leans into it hard. A lot of its strengths come from that aesthetic, actually. It’s what makes the over the top plot work, and the movie very much knows what it is.
Everything about The Love Witch seems carefully crafted to fit the aesthetic. Set design, performances, cinematography, music, effects, editing–it’s all incredibly intricate. There’s something to be said for that type of care being put into crafting a very specific style. More importantly, it’s not just there to be stylish. If it were, I would likely enjoy the movie a whole lot less. But it allows for a lot of the film’s most biting satire to work quite well.
In fact, the only time the movie really falters is towards the end when it actually moves away from that aesthetic. It’s brief, but seeing an iPhone come out is really jarring and doesn’t really make sense. It may be that the style was wearing thin at that point (and I will say, the movie goes on maybe twenty minutes longer than it should). But I would rather have it go on too long but maintain the style than break from it.
That said, the first hour and a half of the movie is just a really good time. Elaine, played by Samantha Robinson, gallivants about, seducing men and generally causing trouble. The local police eventually start investigating her, leading to even more hijinks.
Masked behind the comedy and 1950’s aesthetic are some fairly well implemented feminist undertones. It does feel like The Love Witch sometimes can’t describe how far it wants to go with this. The script will lean into it, and then leap back out and not touch it for a little while. There’s almost a sense of hesitation there, as if the filmmakers were a little weary of diving all the way in.
Still, it adds some substance to a film that would otherwise be all style. To be fair, even without the feminist undertones the film has a fair bit of satire. It mocks the genre, the time period, and pretty much everything about itself. And the performers know what’s going on. Samantha Robinson is especially brilliant as Elaine, but I would be remiss not to call out Jeffrey Vincent Price as Wayne and Gian Keys as Griff.
I mean, The Love Witch isn’t exactly a work of genius or anything. It’s not breaking new ground, but not every film has to to be good. It’s just a good time with an incredible style and enough depth to hold interest. If you need something light, this is exactly where you should be looking.
