Review: ‘The Love Witch,’ a film by Anna Biller

As unique and singular of a vision as one is likely to see all year, writer, producer, editor, and director Anna Biller’s The Love Witch (which made huge critical waves in the US last fall) recreates the feeling of a kitschy late 1960s psychosexual melodrama with a bit of good humour and some biting satirical subtext. It’s a playful and immersive experience that won’t soon be forgotten by anyone who sees it. It might not be to everyone’s taste or what everyone expects, but visions like the one Biller has for The Love Witch deserve to be celebrated.

The Love Witch takes place in a non-descript time period. The fashion, hairstyles, make-up design, and sets all scream 60s and 70s, but there are clearly modern era cars being driven around. Actress Samantha Robinson looks every inch like a woman out of time as Elaine, an attractive, lovelorn woman who has recently left San Francisco following the unexpected death of her husband. She’s a practicing witch with a particular affinity for casting powerful love spells that can make men fall in love with her. The results of her spells are often disastrous, making men so crazy that they’re driven to death’s door one way or another. She draws a lot of unwanted attention following the death and disappearance of a local teacher, but she continues her search for an everlasting love like nothing is wrong.

It’s interesting to see what people think of Elaine as a character. She’s empowered, misguided, calculating, and sometimes sympathetic. It’s not just that Biller frames the character as the perfect blend of sexy and dangerous (although she definitely fits that bill), but that it’s a complex, idiosyncratic figure to build a narrative around. She’s powerful enough to sustain a lot of different stories at the same time, leading to a film clocking in at two hours when most of the flicks Biller pays homage to here likely run half that length. Quite often, mysterious femme fatales aren’t as magnetic as they appear to be, but in terms of performance and construction Elaine is one of the most fascinating on screen figures I’ve ever seen. No matter how long the film feels at certain points (and some trimming could be done here and there), it’s always fascinating to see where Elaine will head next because Biller and Robinson only parcel out details about her in small, tantalizing increments.

If all cinema can be boiled down to the fetishes of a work’s creator, then Biller goes for broke here and leaves nothing to chance. Every colour on screen pops and thrives, and everything falls perfectly into place. In addition to keeping the larger narrative under control, Biller expertly commands even the smallest of details here. It’s not Biller’s first film, but The Love Witch has all the strokes of a masterwork or a true mission statement. It harkens back to a form of bygone theatre that some unjustly see as somehow disreputable, but The Love Witch is a work of honest, genuine art with a perfect balance of swagger and humility. It moves better than most the films Biller is emulating, which makes me kind of sad that this film hasn’t been around my whole life..

It should also go without saying that this tale of sexual empowerment and misadventure comes packed with plenty to say about the differences between men and women. It’s a world where men want mystery from their women, and the women want truth from their men. It’s about that clash and about how men have the tendency to grow more dangerously codependent on a mate than women. It’s about a character that has been somewhat brainwashed by patriarchal figures, and yet remains in a firm mental headspace about what she wants. The Love Witch is a dazzling film to look at, but it’s even more fun to think about long after it’s over.

The Love Witch screens at The Royal in Toronto on January 27, 28, 29 and February 4 & 7 on 35mm. You can catch it on most digital platforms starting on February 3.

Check out the trailer for The Love Witch: