In the opening moments of She Will, the bewitching feature debut from writer-director Charlotte Colbert, we accompany Alice Krige’s troubled former film star Veronica Ghent on a nighttime train ride. The camera captures the journey in the confines of her room and in sweeping shots that float high above to show the train traveling deeper into the terrain. It is as if a snake is being swallowed up by the earth, intercut with fragmented memories Veronica has of laying on the operating table where she had a double mastectomy. She is taking this trip to go to a retreat in rural Scotland, accompanied only by her nurse Desi (Kota Eberhardt). As we round a bend, we see a stunning shot of the reflection of the setting mirrored in the exterior windows of the train as it hurtles into the complete darkness of a tunnel. It is almost identical to an opening scene from 2017’s A Cure for Wellness as both were shot at the gorgeous Landwasser Viaduct, a single-track six-arched curved limestone railway. In She Will, it is one of the final glimpses we get of the outside world before being plunged into a poetic and perilous descent into all that Veronica will discover in the sublime supernatural.
This early visual reference point could initially give the impression that She Will is itself going to draw heavily from past films. While there are moments of this, with Dario Argento’s involvement as an executive producer proving particularly interesting, it quickly becomes something far more distinct and undefinable. This is not a criticism by any stretch of the imagination. Its most compelling feature is how it crafts a visually striking story that gradually draws you into the natural world which it puts in direct conversation with the supernatural. Upon arriving at the retreat, discovering a whole host of pretentious artists also there, Veronica and Desi settle into a cozy cabin removed from the rest of the group as a storm rages outside. It is then that we begin to see this place start to take hold of Veronica. She becomes swept up in a trance, moving around the physical plane with one foot planted in a more ethereal one. She begins to learn about the history of this place and how, many centuries ago, women accused of being witches were burned alive. It is believed their ashes have become one with the earth itself, a detail that takes on a thematic meaning that starts quietly before rising to a roar. From menacing mud to strange slugs, it all gets under your skin.
Witches are a long part of the cinematic horror tradition, though She Will approaches this material in a way that feels fresh in how it eschews familiar narrative beats. It is formally audacious and narratively elusive, embracing the unfamiliar and the unusual. Many moments play out with minimal dialogue as Veronica explores the newfound power she has gained in visual sequences that bend time and space in on themselves. These take place each night as she surrenders herself to supernatural forces that expand the film outward beyond the confines of the cabin, as if she is tapping into some broader force in the universe. It is the type of horror that strikes fear that is less about making you jump and more about overwhelming you with how vast everything is. It doesn’t feel malevolent, though it can easily consume characters whole. Instead, it just is, an expansive evocation of the mysterious parts of existence that we don’t ever fully understand though are all the more stunning because of how peculiar they are. This makes for a much more impactful type of experience where we’re left floating through the story, waves of awe crashing over us with a power and poetry that can be utterly unrelenting. What grounds it is the way Veronica goes through an internal and emotional transformation, something that allows her to confront the darker traumas of her past. She carries open wounds that she has tried to bury though will now excavate.
One standout scene comes as we're whisked away to descend on a late-night interview with a man known as Hathbourne (Malcolm McDowell). With an outwardly charming demeanor that masks his inner cruelty, we discover he is the type of abusive man who controls others though pats himself on the back for having supposedly launched their career. While it doesn’t go into detail, it is clear that Veronica was one such person caught in his grasp. When she turns the tables on him, stalking around the interview set like a ghost haunting the land of the living, Krige carries herself with a presence that is mesmerizing to behold. It is like she is casting a spell on the audience just as she is on Hathbourne. When she reveals herself to him, the manner in which she stares right through to his soul leaves him flabbergasted. Colbert shoots these scenes with a patience that prolongs the spell even further, ensuring that the full impact is felt as the camera shifts between floating around the space to being locked in on closeups of Veronica’s face as she sets in motion her revenge. Each successive scene is riveting, overflowing with a wicked wonder that builds to an appropriately cathartic conclusion.
There are moments where some effects outside the dream sequences fall a little flat and Desi is left with minimal characterization that feels like a missed opportunity. However, while these elements certainly could have been strengthened, the overall experience is one that earns your complete attention. From the moments where we are hit with crossfade after crossfade into Veronica’s visions to the reflection in a pool of blood in one of the film’s final frames, Colbert shows she has a real command of her craft that compels as much as it confounds. It is a work that manages to be both incisive and illuminating, peeling back layer after layer until everything is laid bare. As Veronica comes to terms with her sense of self, her history, and her future, it settles into being something that is quietly revelatory. With each new journey she makes into the vast woods of her dreams, surrounded by enormous trees under the heavy weight of fog, her path to healing is complicated by whether this will last. Is it just a moment out of time or a curse that will end with her right back where she started? She Will doesn’t come down definitively on this as it thrives in the undefinable yet no less overwhelming feelings it creates. What is undeniable is its sense of vision, a fully realized work that marks Colbert as a director to watch in absolutely anything she takes on next.
Rating: A
She Will comes to theaters and VOD on July 15.