Alice Krige plays Veronica, an ageing film star who has come to a remote, new age-style Scottish retreat with her nurse, Desi (Kota Eberhardt), to recuperate following a double mastectomy. The area is situated where medieval witches were burnt at the stake, their ashes said to have permeated the peat, which makes the water look less than appetising. Initially resistant, Veronica begins to find a peace in the region, with the essence of the soil prompting vivid nightmares and memories of working with an abusive director (Malcolm McDowell) when she was only 13.
She Will is a mix of genres; it opens as a character study of a diva-esque actor in her twilight years and develops into a horror picture, with supernatural revenge against patriarchal systems front and centre. Director Charlotte Colbert’s feature debut (which she co-wrote with Kitty Percy) keeps Krige’s character the pivotal focus, allowing the message to be hammered home without being too heavy-handedly. Her physical pain gives way to psychological, as she ‘finds’ herself amongst the embers of tortured women of the past. The re-emergence of the director who both made her famous and ruined her childhood tips her over the edge, but the spirits of the area help her find her inner strength to face her tormentor.
The relationship between the patient and nurse is handled wonderfully by the two leads, and Jamie Ramsay’s eerie cinematography adds the creepy atmosphere needed. Colbert incorporates the historical abuse of the patriarchy with the modern #MeToo era well, but lets the story lead the way instead of moralising. Having Dario Argento’s name attached (as an executive producer) might lead people to expect something more explicit, but Colbert has crafted an impressive and moody horror film that takes swipes at the guru types (played here by Rupert Everett, no less) who offer salvation at a price and the media that will defile a woman for aging but praise an abuser for longevity.
She Will is in select cinemas now.
