[Overlook 2024] HOOD WITCH -- Overambitious Debut Has Riveting Moments but Is Mostly Uneven

Review by Sean Boelman

France has become a veritable breeding ground for filmmakers commenting on themes of race and class. Produced by Ladj Ly (2019’s Les Misérables), Saïd Belktibia’s thriller Hood Witch — which debuted at Sitges last year and recently played at SXSW — has a lot going for it. Still, it’s a bit too sloppy and unfocused to be fully effective.

The film follows a single mother who makes a living smuggling exotic animals and developing an app as she finds herself the victim of a violent online witch hunt, jeopardizing the safety of her and her son. It’s an interesting premise with lots of potential, but like so many feature debuts, it’s a victim of overambition.

The middle third of the movie thrives, as this is where it is most intense and hectic. This section essentially turns into a survival thriller, forcing the protagonist to survive a series of increasingly violent and disturbing encounters. The first act of setup and the final act, which feels a lot tamer, aren’t as riveting.

One of the most frustrating things about Hood Witch is how generic its character development is. Although the script easily connects the audience with the protagonist, as it’s easy to root for a mother trying to protect their child, the motivations of all the characters — whether protagonists or antagonists — feel somewhat generic.

Part of the issue with the character development could be that the film bites off more than it can chew thematically. The central concept of the movie explores how social media culture has created what is essentially a modern-day witch hunt. While this is intriguing, it is diluted by some of the cultural themes involving religion. The film really struggles to find the balance between universal and specific.

Yet even though the character she plays isn’t particularly interesting, Golshifteh Farahani’s performance is gripping and commanding. There are several ways a performer could have approached this role, and Farahani emphasizes fear, which makes some of the political themes feel more timely than they may have otherwise.

If nothing else, Belktibia has an incredibly distinctive voice as a director that will be exciting to see developed in the future. When the movie leans into its darkness and suspense, Belktibia creates some genuinely unsettling scenes. He also incorporates phone footage in a way that’s intriguing without feeling gimmicky and adds some more stylistic flourishes to the film that give it a unique personality. 

Hood Witch is the type of feature debut that is more interesting as a calling card for its filmmaker’s style than in its own right. Although there are a lot of really interesting ideas on display in the narrative, Saïd Belktibia is yet another novice director to bite off more than he can chew when it comes to his first feature.

Hood Witch is screening at the 2024 Overlook Film Festival, which runs April 4-7 in New Orleans, LA.

Rating: 2.5/5