She Will

Soon after settling into their nearby isolated cabin, Veronica and Desi wander the castle grounds and discover a gravestone that marks the spot where 3,000 women accused of witchcraft were burned at the stake in the 1700s. Their ashes have since infused the earth with an otherworldly kind of curse, which will transform Veronica in multiple ways. Nightmares of her past abuse lead to delirious visions and bouts of sleepwalking in the woods, as the line between dreams and reality is steadily blurred. She begins to develop a deepening connection to the land, gaining supernatural powers that guide her toward a cathartic confrontation with her trauma.

She Will, the first feature by multimedia artist Charlotte Colbert (and “presented” by executive producer by Dario Argento), initially relies on a traditional storytelling structure, but the flashback scenes grow increasingly disjointed. While this unconventional approach helps to place the viewer directly within Veronica’s feverish experience—Colbert has stated that she intended to convey how “meaning and perspective and reality and time are all such fragile constructs that can break at any time”—it also creates too much confusion between the film’s timelines. There’s also an overreliance on ambiguous symbolism: the images of slugs, spiders, a mysterious reappearing red fox, a dead bird crawling with maggots, a stone triangle, a dancing woman, and tarot cards that are randomly peppered throughout never fully connect to the narrative in a meaningful way.

Indulgent occultism aside, She Will is ultimately eye-popping folk horror about feminine empowerment; the heroine’s mission for vengeance against her abuser is aided by the memory and remains of thousands of other women who were victims of male-inflicted cruelty. The dynamic between Veronica and Desi also factors largely into the film, as the two gradually reconcile their differences and form a mother-daughter bond. While She Will clearly speaks to the lingering emotional effects of sexual abuse, lurking beneath the surface of this feminist revenge tale is an examination of the ways in which women relate to each other, to their own innate power, and to their collective past and present place within a patriarchal world. 🩸