WITCH HUNT
(March 2021)
/ ‘wiCH,
hunt/, Noun
A world where witches are real, and are hounded by
the Bureau of Witch Investigations (the BWI), modern-day witch hunters all too
ready to strike a match so they can “stop hysteria and uphold the law”;
A world where the threat of Proposition 6, the Witch
List Act (AKA Prop 6) looms.
Its full title: the Control, Regulate, and Restrict Potential Witchcraft Act, meant to “restrict the rights of blood relatives of convicted witches”;
A world where the particular combination of one’s
genes potentially carries a death sentence.
Working against this system is Elizabeth Mitchell’s
Martha Goode, a widow who helps smuggle witches to safety.
In this world’s parlance, Martha is a “harborer”, which makes her life and that of her children a daily tightrope of secrets and subterfuge.
“Did you see
the way that they looked at me? How am I supposed to control something that I’m
not even allowed to practice?
“And why does it have to be bad?
“I’m not bad…
“I’m not bad!”
Witch Hunt is
writer/director Elle Callahan’s sophomore feature, on the heels of her
excellent ¡Qué horror! 2019 title, Head Count.
A piece like Witch
Hunt can be a particularly potent narrative because, like comic book tales
of the X-Men, it’s the kind of story where the persecuted minority--whether
witches or mutants--can be swapped out for any number of real-life
discriminated groups.
It’s a fictional reflection of the hardships that some people--through no fault or choice of their own--are subjected to, simply due to the color of their skin, or their gender.
It’s the kind of troubling, uncomfortable horror
that critiques the very real-life systems we all find ourselves slaved to.
It’s the kind of horror that asks, So then, what are you going to do about it?
“So, vote
‘Yes’ on Prop 6, and keep our streets safe from anyone with magic in their
blood.
“No magic is good magic.”
(Witch Hunt
OS courtesy of impawards.com.)
- A search for, and subsequent persecution of persons accused of witchcraft.
- A campaign directed against a person, or group, holding unorthodox or unpopular views, usually based on slight, doubtful, or irrelevant evidence.
Its full title: the Control, Regulate, and Restrict Potential Witchcraft Act, meant to “restrict the rights of blood relatives of convicted witches”;
In this world’s parlance, Martha is a “harborer”, which makes her life and that of her children a daily tightrope of secrets and subterfuge.
“And why does it have to be bad?
“I’m not bad…
“I’m not bad!”
It’s a fictional reflection of the hardships that some people--through no fault or choice of their own--are subjected to, simply due to the color of their skin, or their gender.
It’s the kind of horror that asks, So then, what are you going to do about it?
“No magic is good magic.”
