[Film Review] Witch Hunt (2020)

Directed by Elle Callahan, Witch Hunt (2020) is set against an alternate America where witchcraft is illegal and punishable by death. Suspected practitioners are mercilessly persecuted along with those who dare to help them. 

Witch Hunt is centered around teenager Claire (Gideon Adlon- The Craft Legacy) and her mother (Elizabeth Mitchell- The Expanse, The Purge: Election Year) as they negotiate being part of an underground system that aims to aid witches in crossing the border from America into Mexico whilst avoiding persecution and execution. When two young witches, Fiona and Shae, are charged into the family’s care, Claire must come to terms with what society expects from her and her own moral compass, all the while helping her family steer clear of the modern day version of the witch hunter, played by Christian Camargo. In this supernatural crossover of political commentary and teen witches, the horror lies within the senseless persecution of all who are othered in society. 

In the age of #MeToo , the term ‘witch hunt’ has been used numerously by ignorant people (here’s looking at you Liam Neeson!) to describe the scores of sexual misconduct allegations towards high ranking players within the entertainment industry, it is perhaps the perfect time for this film to remind audiences what an actual witch hunt is and it’s origins. Witch Hunt imagines a world in which the puritanical burnings of women accused of witchcraft across Europe and colonial America starting in 1450 AD never ceased and continues into modern day America. 

In this world, the persecuted are red haired white women and at a time where non-inclusive white feminism is a bane on the movement, this story arc within Witch Hunt comes across as slightly problematic. Even though, historically speaking, red haired people were more suspected to be witches, the inclusion of these undesirable traits in the movie perhaps are meant to be ironic, but the storyline suffers from being too clumsy and thus it mainly comes across as tone deaf. While Witch Hunt does make a strong commentary on xenophobia within real life America, perhaps it would have been better off not focusing the witch hunt on white women. Also making additional references to the Mexican border wall, the underground railway system and the Holocaust, does not serve the movie’s message well at all. 

The strengths of this film lies within its portrayal of main character Claire played by Gideon Adlon as she continues to cope with her internal battle of her morality versus the biases that the society in which she inhabits has forced upon her. The strained relationship between Claire and her mother is a relatable one as a young adult trying to forge her own beliefs and navigate her way through an uncertain and dangerous situation. The modernisation of the trials of the witches such as the pricking of the moles of suspected witches and dunking them in swimming pools to see if they float, is a nice addition and Witch Hunt also contains a few jump scares helped along by strong sound and score by  Blitz//Berlin. 

Witch Hunt’s downfall is really in its delivery of it’s central underlying message and whilst it’s intention may have been well meaning, it’s reception by audiences may not be what was intended at all. 

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