SXSW Film Review: Hood Witch

In horror, witches and women’s rights go together like cookies and cream. The witch is the ultimate symbol of feminism, a vehicle to discuss how modern politics are still as outdated as they were hundreds of years ago when women were killed if accused of dabbling in witchcraft.

Saïd Belktibia’s Hood Witch tackles all of that, and more. The film centers on Nour (Golshifteh Farahani), a mother who makes a living selling exotic animals in Paris. The crux of the conflict comes from Nour’s divorce from her husband, Dylan (Jérémy Ferrari), a man who not only disrespects women, but firmly believes that their son would be better off in his care. Dylan is introduced by smashing into Nour’s car – into the passenger side where their son is sitting, a clear omen of what’s to come. The father is spiteful, angered that his wife would not only divorce him, but take his son away.

The setup for Hood Witch is solid, but the leap the film takes to go from the setup to a modern-day witch hunt is a clunky one. It goes from zero to 100 too fast, and all logic in human behavior gets thrown out the window for the metaphors Belktibia is trying to juggle (Nour being an immigrant is a key factor in the way she’s treated). It’s a strong concept, utilizing social media and tight-knit communities to generate the persecution of Nour, but the execution never feels natural, and it becomes rather odd that everyone seems to be tight with her ex-husband. The seams of the film begin to unravel, and it never finds it footing again.

It’s honestly a shame that Hood Witch ends up feeling so disjointed, because at its core is a lovely movie about the bond between mothers and their sons, and it’s even sweeter that filmmaker Belktibia dedicated the film to his own mother. A lot of great ideas, but the storytelling needed some fine-tuning.

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Hood Witch

Midnighter, North American Premiere

Saturday, March 16, 9:45pm, Alamo Lamar

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