“The Calling Witch” Blends Fiction & Fear
Children’s books have long had a place in the horror genre. They allow a kid’s imagination to run wild, crafting stories of make believe that often have relevance in their real lives. That’s the thing about the human subconscious. It often figures things out long before the person becomes aware of it themselves. Mark Wilson’s The Calling Witch is centered on a children’s storybook about a witch who lures kids out into the woods, but the horror doesn’t only exist on the page.
The central children’s book was written by Virginia (Danika Golombek) and Edward’s (Grayson Eddey) mother, who recently committed suicide. The siblings and their father are reeling from this loss, and now they find themselves between a rock and a hard place. Their dad travels a lot for work, which was fine when their mom was still alive, but now he expects Virginia to put her life on hold to care for Edward. There are about ten years between them. Edward is still in middle school and Virginia is ready to start her life as a young adult. Their father leaves them again for work and, in his absence, the two are subject to a home invasion by an unknown force.
The Calling Witch director Wilson and writer Chris Retts seems to have gone to the Mike Flanagan school of horror. This is not sleepover fare with cheap jumpscares to get the adrenaline pumping. It’s a horror movie that uses the trappings of a child-luring witch to weave a dark, complicated story about families. It’s a film about parents and the sacrifices they make, not only to care for a child, but to have one in the first place. The Calling Witch is a film about grief’s way of permeating life. Not just the loss of a family member, but of a life one may never get to live.
In the horror genre, audience members love a Final Girl. A young woman, the sole survivor of a catastrophic attack, who gets to stand in front of the brutal killer and take matters into her own hands. It began as a continuation of outdated beliefs of what a woman should be. The early Final Girl was a goody-two-shoes, the virgin archetype, but she morphed into someone more well-rounded who can participate in the “unladylike vices” and still live. The Calling Witch’s Virginia is a strong example of a contemporary Final Girl. Wielding a shotgun, Virginia never hesitates. When she hears rustling outside, she doesn’t think twice. She has a brother to protect and she will go down, guns blazing, should the situation call for it.
An interpersonal, familial drama, The Calling Witch has moments of such grandeur that one might forget they’re watching a small, independent movie. Jacob Boyd’s score is soaringly cinematic, adding an expansive breadth to a story that transcends the nearly single-setting scenario. The Calling Witch is a slow burn that doesn’t rush or worry about hitting a quota of scares. It’s more interested in plumbing what it means to be a family.
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