The Old Ways (2021) Film Review
On the subject of witchcraft, it isn’t easy to find modern films that work. It’s a subgenre that’s hard to approach with absolute seriousness, and almost nobody wants to make a horror film that isn’t serious. It’s also a question related to how “close” we are to folklore, and if it’s enough to convey a sense of threat, even if it’s a theme that frequently goes back centuries. I guess it depends on who’s watching.
In The Old Ways, a journalist goes back to where she grew up. However, this is something we come to know after she wakes up in chains. She’s been kidnapped by locals who recognize her but also believe she’s possessed. An introductory scene is clear enough to let us know key facts about her past.
Cristina denies any involvement with witchcraft and is desperate to call for help. As days pass, she begins experiencing strange events. Perhaps, her skeptic mind is to be changed and Cristina needs to believe in dark forces to be able to fight them.
It’s an irony that witchcraft has so many paths to explore and we’re always left with the same formula over and over. The Old Ways isn’t a perfect flick, but the film’s reliance on its lead and the “down to Earth” exploration of a culture is enough for us to enjoy. It’s a twist. Not on what exists, but on what we expect after trailers and such. The plot goes really far in delving into the subject of a tradition, and the “scares” element is plenty but it isn’t invasive.
It’s Brigitte Kali Canales’ responsibility to make us connect and she does an impressive job. Her performance is extremely honest and not overly dramatic considering the subject and the role of her past in her grievance. In its first act, The Old Ways is a film about a victim and her inability to understand what’s happening. It’s a shallow (and formulaic) introduction that’s fortunately short. However, when it becomes a mysterious navigation on the religious outskirts of a Mexican tradition, it becomes interesting. No longer Cristina is a circumstantial subject. She has become an important part of an event that’s never random in nature. Perhaps I’m saying too much so we’ll just leave it at that.
In the film’s closure, we’re left in the hands of a screenwriter that decides to go for what’s effective in the experience of horror. It’s a predictable showdown that gives Cristina the power to be part of a culture she never understood but was always running through her veins. It’s full of effects and creatures and it’s not as interesting as it could be. But hey, films should give viewers what they want, right?
The Old Ways gives plenty during its running time. In fact, what I loved the most about Cristina’s “development” were the “body horror” winks we got. It was predictable and cheesy, but this film couldn’t have worked without that. As a horror film, it’s not serious. And as a vehicle for digging deep into the bottom of a culture whose religious practices are cryptic, it’s actually good.
Oh, and that ending. Loved it. What a great way to present heritage as something inevitable and not always good.
