You Won't Be Alone

Can an idea be killed? Can you erase or transform folkloric mythology? Star Wars and organised religion would hope not but it seems Goran Stolevski might think otherwise. You Won't Be Alone is the debut feature of this Macedonian/Aussie filmmaker (he's also got Of an Age doing the festival circuits at the moment - it took out the top prize at WA's own Cinefest Oz recently). The film is set in Macedonia in the 19th century and, as you might expect, it's pretty bleak, especially for women. It starts with a mother and baby getting an unexpected visit from Old Maid Maria, a scarred witch who is after blood. The mother cuts a deal which gives the child 16 years grace before she is to be taken so, in the words of the mother, "you won't be alone." In an attempt to trick the witch, the child is hidden in a cave until the inevitable day when she is claimed. Henceforth, the child grown, Nevena (Sara Klimoska) becomes a kind of trainee witch to Maria (Anamaria Marinca).

This is a dense, slow-moving tale that's only made more mysterious by the much appreciated lack of exposition. The dialogue is Macedonian and the story was pulled together by Stolevski as an amalgam of various tales in the folklore of the area, coupled with his own embellishments. Fatalism has its place but also there's some satisfaction to be had from drawing a line under the prevailing superstition (if you read it that way). Maria's plaintive protestation that, "It was all so easy for you", feels like an ushering in of the new and a pretty unsympathetic dispensing of the past. Fair dues, I suppose, as Old Maid Maria was probably due some form of comeuppance, murderous witch that she is. In fact, her backstory is told later on in the film, and in line with the general shithouse treatment of women, it's hard not to feel some measure of pity for her.

Klimoska is excellent as the mute 'me-witch', and the actors she transforms into - Noomi Rapace, Carloto Cotta and Alice Englert - mimic her odd mannerisms perfectly. Marinca is horrific, but calm and almost dignified, and the landscape is golden and warm, belying the grotesqueries performed within it. And here is where the preview screening I was in lost a few of the punters - there's some fairly icky stiff going on with innards and gizzards and I can understand if that's not your jam (mmm, gizzard jam...). All in a good cause, mind, nothing really gratuitous, though the walkers may have a different opinion.

You Won't Be Alone is a very assured directorial debut - steady, confident, with a seemingly singular vision. It's likely not for everyone and it drifted slightly at times, but the ambiguity, the lyricism of Nevena's urge for love and acceptance in society, the strong female characters and the exploration of creepy myth and legend make this a quality piece of work.

You Won't Be Alone opens at the Luna on Sep 22nd

See also:

Rapace stars in Valdimar Jóhannsson's Lamb (2021), which shares the same levels of creep, and you could do worse than check out John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) for more shape-shifting giggles.