This year, The Overlook Film Festival has a host of foreign horror films, many of them French. One such French horror film is Hood Witch, which was recently acquired by MPI Media Group/Dark Sky Films as the distributor. The film was directed by Saïd Belktibia, making his feature film debut, who also co-wrote the film with Louis Penicaut (La plus belle pour aller danser). In Hood Witch, audiences meet a single mother named Nour trying to make ends meet by smuggling exotic animals and performing various healing rituals, even creating an app that connects people with mystics, healers, magicians, and the like. Just as her life seems to be improving, her attempt to help someone goes horribly wrong, resulting in a violent city-wide hunt for her head.

What makes Hood Witch such a compelling film is how it depicts what is essentially a modern-day witch hunt. At first, Nour seems to be well loved in her community. As her app launches and she becomes more successful, there are the first rumblings of discontent, specifically from her conservative ex-husband and the religious leader he consults with. When Nour’s attempt to help a friend goes horribly awry, the community instantly turns against her. It highlights two very important things. First, a successful woman who doesn’t need a man to survive is easily viewed as a threat by men. Second, people will be on your side as long as they get what they want from you, but the moment they don’t, they will vilify you. These are sad truths that not only speak to Nour’s story, but also eludes to the thousands of women throughout history who likely experienced something similar and were killed for being a “witch.” It also makes for nail-biting ride, with tension that builds and builds until it’s on the verge of combusting.

Because this film takes place in modern times, it creates a really unique take on mysticism. Audiences see Nour work with various people from different backgrounds and religions, all with the common goal of healing. This blend of religions and traditions feels authentic to today’s world, focusing more on compassion and helping people rather than any one “right” spiritual practice. The app Nour creates also leans into the blending of old traditions and new technology. Spend any time on apps like TikTok and you’re sure to scroll by any number of practicing Wiccans, mediums, tarot card readers, and more who use technology to both educate and connect with potential clients. There’s an authenticity here, and it also makes the threat Nour represents even more clear – conservative religious leaders do not appreciate this kind of cultural fusion.

Hood Witch features a number of brilliant performances. Most notable is Golshifteh Farahani (Extraction, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) starring as Nour. Farahani conveys such warmth and compassion in this role, especially in her desire to help those who are suffering and in the way she loves her son. Yet it’s when Nour is fighting for her and her son’s life that Farahani truly excels. There is a visceral, almost animalistic feel to her performance when trying to save her son, conveying the lengths a mother will go to for her child. Playing Nour’s son, Amine, is a young new actor named Amine Zariouhi. Much like his mother, Amine is a sweet, caring, and sensitive young boy. Zariouhi perfectly embodies these character traits, while also having a naiveté that makes him uncertain of what to believe – all the horrible things the city is saying or the words of his own mother. Individually these two are wonderful, but they’re even better together, giving audiences an authentic feeling mother and son relationship.

The artistic elements are quite subtle in this film, lending to the realistic tone. Audiences will likely first notice the stunning cinematography. Everything from the camera angles, the framing of each shot, and even the lighting lends to the beauty of Hood Witch. Another interesting visual element is the incorporation of social media. Throughout the film, videos from peoples’ social media posts are shown, at first cluing the audience in to views on contemporary witchcraft, then later showing individuals claiming Nour is either guilty or innocent. While this is a nice touch that helps to firmly place the film in the modern age, these scenes do sometimes pose an issue with the subtitles. The subtitles are in a white font with no background, so when some of the media videos also have a lot of white the subtitles disappear. Even though these clips aren’t necessarily vital to the plot, it’s still a bit frustrating to lose that translation.

Hood Witch is a striking film using themes of mysticism, feminism, and cultural divides to deliver a twenty-first-century witch hunt. The film is an incredible directorial debut for Belktibia, sure to make horror fans and film lovers alike take notice. Both Belktibia and Penicaut crafted a compelling script, which Farahani absolutely devoured in her starring role as Nour. Hood Witch is a superb example of how, if we’re not careful, history can repeat itself with dire consequences.

OVERALL RATING: 8/10