Film Review - You Won’t Be Alone

Images courtesy of Madman Entertainment.

You Won't Be Alone follows a young mute woman who, after having her voice stolen by a witch, or "Wolf-Eateress", is imbued with the witch's powers and embarks on a shape-shifting odyssey through the 19th century Macedonian countryside. Following in the footsteps of Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin, Goran Stolevski's directorial debut uses this simple narrative framework as a lens to examine the human experience, exploring themes such as gender, intimacy and generational trauma.

Billed as a marriage of folk horror and arthouse drama, You Won't Be Alone is glacially paced to the point that  it may stretch  its ideas a little thin for some viewers. However, I was enamoured by its beautiful views of forests and farms, and the haunting yet ultimately hopeful portrait of humanity through the eyes of Nevena, a young woman who has spent most of her life sheltered from the evils of the Wolf-Eateress, Old Maid Maria. Nevena's many attempts to adopt the lives of strangers she comes across and assimilate into normalcy comes at the distaste and contempt of Maria, who repeatedly berates her for her seemingly childish desire to belong. At one point, Maria chides her for "wearing corpses" - why continue to play the wolf in sheep's clothing, when she has abilities and instincts that directly put her at odds with the villagers?

We get an extended flashback scene in the final 40 minutes as Nevena, having taken the appearance of a young child, is told the tale of Old Maid Maria - how she begged another Wolf-Eateress to give her a husband and a child, but was betrayed both by the witch and her fellow townsfolk, forced into intercourse with a dying man and then became sick herself before being burned alive. While this does help to turn Maria into a more sympathetic character, it also comes off as kind of awkward, interrupting the flow of the story in the same way a stone might interrupt the flow of a river. Despite this, the film manages to put things back on track with a satisfying and surprisingly uplifting ending that ties the experience together in a way that still leaves the audience thinking.

Considering the film's lofty, existential ambitions, You Won't Be Alone ends up a surprisingly resounding success, thanks in no small part to adept direction and incredible performances from the cast all round, tying Nevena's many lives into a narrative that's both cohesive and poignant.

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You Won’t Be Alone is screening in cinemas from Thursday 22nd September. For tickets and more info, click here.