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The Love Witch

2016 film

Watched 27 December 2017

It’s rare that a film constructed around imitation can feel so original. Instead of using pastiche as a crutch, or as a trope to be subverted in some sort of twist, The Love Witch uses it seriously as a foundation, allowing it to serve a much deeper thematic purpose. It’s what binds everything together instead of being a joke waiting to be made.

Everything about this film shows unwavering dedication and attention to detail. It’s all brimming with confidence. Casting and costume design are absolutely perfect. Lighting and color work are so well done they feel impossible to pull off in 2017. But my favorite detail has to be the cheekily obvious continuity errors in closeup shots. Lovely.

About star ratings

My ratings are subjective. I’m not aiming for a perfect ranking of comparative artistic merit, just trying to represent how I feel about stuff. Here’s what they mean:

Personal favorite. I simply love it, warts and all.
Something special. Highly recommended.
Good, but unremarkable. I’ll probably forget about it.
A waste of time. Not recommended.
Practically insulting. Soulless garbage. (Rare!)