You Won't Be Alone

I usually really enjoy horror films based on folklore but somehow I missed You Won't Be Alone at Sundance this year.  Luckily my favorite art house theater eventually screens the noteworthy films from Sundance (and other festivals) so I was able to see it last night.  It is slow and sometimes meandering but I found it to be a fascinating take on witchcraft and the nature of humanity.  In a remote mountain village in 19th century Macedonia, a disfigured shape-shifting witch (Anamaria Marinca) comes to claim a newborn baby.  Her distraught mother (Kamka Tocinovski) negotiates with the witch to allow her to keep the child until she turns sixteen and the witch unexpectedly agrees.  However, the mother, hoping to trick the witch, keeps the child hidden in a cave but the witch still comes to claim her at the appointed time (I really enjoyed this fairy-tale inspired prologue).  Nevena (Sara Klimoska) is feral after living in the cave her whole life and, despite being transformed into a witch herself, she is overcome by the beauty of nature.  When Nevena is left on her own, she assumes the shape of several villagers (Noomi Rapace and Carloto Cotta) out of curiosity but it is when she becomes the child Biliana (Anastasija Karanovich) that she discovers the joy of being human.  Nevena chooses to live as Biliana (Alice Englert) and finds happiness as a wife and mother but the witch, whose tragic backstory is revealed, warns her of the evil in the world.  Despite some really gruesome scenes involving body horror (the way the witches assume the shape of people and animals is quite disturbing), the visuals showing the simplicity of village life are beautiful and the score is haunting.  Most of the dialogue is an internal monologue from Nevena's perspective as she discovers the world and the people around her and this is a very effective way to explore many different themes, such as gender roles, community, and cycles of abuse, as Nevena experiences them.  It does get a bit repetitive and it definitely won't be for everyone but I thought it was very compelling.