As a professional movie dork, sometimes I have a solid idea of what I’ll be reviewing a few weeks out. I’ll think, “This week I have a screening of a blockbuster, next week an indie drama, the week after that an action movie,” and so on. Other times, things get a little more cloudy. When stormy critic weather arrives,* I’ll usually get my wife’s take, since she’s also the one who proofs these things before you fine people have to suffer through them.

So there I was at my desk, cat on my lap. I turned to my wife and said, “For this week, I can see a geopolitical drama, a low budget thriller, or a horror movie.” The rest of the conversation went something like this:

My wife – “What’s the horror movie about?” 

Me – “It’s titled The Calling Witch, and–” 

My wife – “The what?”

Me – “The Calling Witch.”

My wife ponders this a moment.

My wife – “What is she calling?”

Me – “I have no idea. I haven’t watched the trailer from the publicist yet.”

My wife – “Or who. Who is she calling?”

Me – “Again, I don’t know. I haven’t watched the trailer in the last two seconds.”

My wife – “Review that one and explain to me what she’s calling. Spoilers are fine.”

Beloved Reader, I undertook a journey. It began with the aforementioned conversation, continued with a trailer where I thought I knew what I was getting into, and ended with the actual film The Calling Witch being something very different and very impressive.

We’re introduced to Meredith Laye (Hilary Barraford), a successful author and illustrator. Within her tastefully decorated house backed up to a remote wooded area, she writes something with intention. Once finished, the document goes into an envelope. Barefoot, Meredith leaves the house and deposits an envelope into a battered mailbox. From there, she trudges slowly into the dark woods, and hangs herself.

Time passes. We meet Meredith’s daughter Virginia (Danika Golombek), a young woman who reads a book to her younger brother Edward (Grayson Eddey). The title of the book is, “The Calling Witch,” by Meredith Laye. The dedication reads, “Dedicated to Edward and Virginia. Stay out of the woods.” If that’s not eerie enough, the tale concerns a witch who calls to children in order to eat them, and a young boy struggling mightily against her call.

In short order, we learn that times have been tough for Virginia. Over and over, she’s had to put her life on hold due to the demands of her mother’s mental illness, and the demands of her father Warren’s (Marcus DeAnda) career. That pattern continues. Virginia has graduated with a degree in creative writing, and she plans to leave for New York City imminently. Warren asks her to delay her departure. He needs to be away for work, and needs her to care for Edward. 

Virginia caves. What else can she do? Their small family has gotten smaller, and so have their options. She and Edward are on their own, and that’s when it begins. A lock to Meredith’s treehouse writing studio is vandalized. Edward’s beloved cat** disappears. A woman (Nathalie Soderqvist) in a disheveled dress is spotted at the treeline. Is she a witch? Is she Meredith’s creation, sprung to ghastly life? If so, what are her real intentions?

As much as possible, I want to retain the element of surprise with The Calling Witch. Director Mark Wilson has made a horror movie, to be sure, yet what he’s made is more than a mere horror movie. If nothing else, you should see this film for the outstanding filmmaking craft on display. Wilson reportedly had a very low budget, yet the film he’s made consistently looks terrific. Day scenes have muted and striking colors, while night scenes are lit and shot effectively.*** Speaking of imagery, the illustrations in the book by Richard Ingersoll are unsettling, and they match the spooky atmosphere that weaves throughout the film.

Lesser horror movies either ignore characterization in favor of cheap jump scares, focus so much on character that they forego scares,**** or spring a “twist ending” on the audience that makes no sense in retrospect. The script by Chris Retts dodges all of those pitfalls. When it needs to be scary, it creates moments more evocative than a cat inexplicably leaping out of the darkness. The characters are all three dimensional, flawed, and ultimately sympathetic – even the witch. As for that twist I mentioned, it’s not so much a trick pulled on the audience. Instead, Retts recontextualizes multiple pieces of information that, from a different perspective, changes everything. So much so that the horror movie we’ve been watching becomes a taut family drama. It’s a nice change to see a scary movie that’s so humanist.

The cast runs with the opportunity to play characters rather than archetypes. Danika Golombek quietly turns in a sophisticated performance as Virginia. Due to circumstances beyond her control, Virginia has had to be the responsible child, the one who can pick up the slack. Golombek shows us Virginia’s resentment, and she also shows us her love for her little brother. She knows none of this is Edward’s fault, and Golumbek and Grayson Eddey as Edward, have chemistry that makes them feel like siblings with real history. I liked Marcus DeAnda for similar reasons in his role as Warren. He tries very hard to be a good father. For the most part he succeeds, and during a moment late in the film when he doesn’t, DeAnda shows us why and makes it understandable.

After I finished watching the screener of The Calling Witch, I went up to my wife’s home office and explained everything to her. She agreed that a) it sounded like a special movie and b) she wouldn’t be watching it because of the cat. I get where she’s coming from, but I implore you, check out The Calling Witch. It’s a dark little gem of a film that deserves to be brought into the light of discovery.  

*This is a horrible metaphor, and I take responsibility for it.

**A heads up, the cat does not make it out of this one. Want to see an excellent movie where the cat does make it? Check out the excellent dialogue-free animated film Flow.

***There’s been a very annoying trend of late in film/television where night scenes are so underlit that it’s nearly impossible to tell what’s happening. I’d love to buy Wilson a beer for not doing that.

****If an “elevated horror” movie isn’t actually scary, it’s no longer a horror movie. 

Tim Brennan Movie Critic

Tim has been alarmingly enthusiastic about movies ever since childhood. He grew up in Boulder and, foolishly, left Colorado to study Communications in Washington State. Making matters worse, he moved to Connecticut after meeting his too-good-for-him wife. Drawn by the Rockies and a mild climate, he triumphantly returned and settled down back in Boulder County. He's written numerous screenplays, loves hiking, and embarrassed himself in front of Samuel L. Jackson. True story.