The first feature co-directed and co-created by Craig Hinde and Marc Zammit (although the latter has one solo feature among his previous short work), Witch also boasts a story consultant credit for one David Baboulene. Now, let me be clear, I've seen much worse than this. I would also be very happy if Hinde, Zammit, and Baboulene decided to break away from one another and seek some other creative partners. Because this isn't good, but it's clearly made by people who believe that the one semi-interesting idea at the heart of it is enough to make up for a whole host of problems elsewhere.
The story involves a young woman, Johanna (Mims Burton), accused ot witchcraft. Unfortunately, she ends up implicating Twyla (Sarah Alexandra Marks) during the trial, much to the shock of both Twyla and her husband, William (Ryan Spong). Someone who isn't shocked by this turn of events is Thomas (Russell Shaw), a man who seems able to predict the unfolding course of events. Thomas has a handy book to guide him, as well as a personal reason to ensure the safety of William and Twyla.
Have Hinde and Zammit done much better than I could do when it comes to getting something onscreen that looks and sounds like a proper feature film? Absolutely. Are the cast all doing better than I would do in their situation? Again . . . absolutely. Does that make this a success though? Sadly not. This is, as I mentioned in the first paragraph, a film with one decent idea, but no ability to make the most of it. The 107-minute runtime is full of moments that feel ridiculously padded out, and things become more and more obviously fake and cheap-looking with every passing minute.
The cast doing better than I would do isn't a ringing endorsement either. I can barely put on a good act when being dragged around any shop that doesn't have the movies or books I enjoy browsing through. I wouldn't call anyone here bad, especially the three leads, but they're definitely not helped by the script and staging of the material. Many scenes feel like they would be improved by the cast of Horrible Histories crashing into them and taking us off on an exploratory tangent, which would at least allow the onscreen world to feel more solid and realistic.
Witch is arguably worth watching once, if only to take notes on how not to squander such an intriguing premise. It's a shame that it is so dull and pedestrian though. I understand that resources would have been limited, but having some fun and adding some full-on carnage would have transformed this into a proper little gem. And don't even start me on the extra little scene tacked on at the end, which felt like the worst possible way to end the whole thing.
4/10
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