THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE is ostensibly a story about death. André Øvredal’s terrifying film follows Austin (Emile Hirsch) and Tommy (Brian Cox), a father-son team of coroners tasked with examining a body found partially buried beneath a brutal crime scene. Rather than discover and report her tragic story, they inadvertently awaken a powerful witch hellbent on reclaiming her own autonomy.
When most people imagine a spell, they picture an old hag stirring a bubbling cauldron after throwing in the eye of a newt or moss from a local graveyard. While this is certainly a possibility, most spellwork is much more grounded. SUSPIRIA (2018) includes four instances of spells in which dance is used to channel intention, each involving a ritual to charge the invocation.
Writer and director Goran Stolevski uses a story of witches to examine humanity and the sacred cycles of feminine life.
In their feature film debut, writer Jennifer Mancini and director Alexandra Senza's tale of covens and demons admirably depicts witches as complex human beings. But FLEE THE LIGHT’s internal logic feels vague and inconsistent, a spell missing a few key ingredients.
Jenn Adams explores contemporary womanhood as reflected in witch cinema in this new column.
