“Witch Hunt,” directed by Elle Callahan, unfolds in a fictional California city, Thirteen Palms, and portrays a world where witchcraft is illegal in the United States. The film predominantly features a white cast, representing the working and middle class, with a few Latinos, Asians, and African Americans. The narrative revolves around a teenage girl, Claire Goode, played by Gideon Adlon, who is conflicted over her mother illegally hiding witches in their home to prevent them from being arrested, deported, or murdered by government officials.

A Society Against Witches

The film presents a society deeply rooted in hatred against witches, with witchcraft being a crime punishable by death. The Bureau of Witchcraft Investigations (BWI) is responsible for finding and arresting witches, with women and girls being the primary targets. The majority of the witches in the story have red hair, a characteristic that should, theoretically, make it easier for the authorities to find them. The film attempts to draw parallels between the bigotry towards witches and real-life bigotry towards undocumented immigrants.

The Goode Family

Claire lives with her widowed mother, Martha, played by Elizabeth Mitchell, and her identical twin brothers, Corey and George, played by Cameron Crovetti and Nicholas Crovetti respectively. Martha is part of an underground network that hides witches who are targeted for arrests, deportations, or executions. Claire, aware of her mother’s activities, is worried about the potential repercussions and urges her mother to stop helping witches. Martha, however, continues her endeavors, with Jacob Gordon, played by Treva Etienne, being her ally in transporting the witches in large wooden crate boxes, disguised as deliveries for office-sized bottled water dispensers.

Claire’s Conflict and Proposition 6

Claire, although prejudiced against witches, believing them to be criminals, is conflicted about the treatment witches receive in society. She doesn’t believe they should be tortured and killed just for being witches and thinks they should be locked up or deported. This internal conflict is heightened by the introduction of Proposition 6, a policy allowing the California government to deport the children of convicted witches to Mexico, where witches are legal and are given asylum. The proposition is based on the belief that being a witch is a biologically inherited trait.

The Hidden Witches

Throughout the movie, three witches are shown to have been smuggled into the Goode family home. The first witch, Gina, played by Ashley Bell, speaks in a strange language and has a magical blue butterfly. She is eventually smuggled out of the home. The other two witches, Fiona and Shae, played by Abigail Cowen and Echo Campbell respectively, are sisters hiding because their mother was executed for being a witch. Claire forms a quick friendship with Fiona, despite her previously shown prejudice against witches.

The Antagonist: Detective Hawthorne

Detective Hawthorne, played by Christian Carmago, is the chief villain in the film, representing the BWI. He is fanatical in his intent to hunt down witches and uses a magical thermal pocket watch to detect a witch’s presence. However, his character is portrayed as one-dimensional and predictable, lacking suspense or backstory, and becomes a hollow antagonist right through the inevitable showdown toward the end of the film.

The Ending

The ending of “Witch Hunt” is not explicitly detailed in the provided content. However, the film, with its portrayal of societal hatred and the literal witch hunt, attempts to mirror real-world issues and prejudices. The characters, especially Claire, go through a journey of conflict, realization, and eventual understanding of the world around them, reflecting the broader societal tensions and prejudices present in the film’s universe.

Reflection

“Witch Hunt” (2021) is a film that intertwines horror elements with timely allegories about immigrant controversies in the U.S. It explores themes of prejudice, societal norms, and the consequences of harboring beliefs that are contrary to the law. The film, while having an interesting concept and potential for outstanding horror, seems to have squandered the story concept with a rushed and disjointed ending, weak horror tropes, and characters making nonsensical decisions. Nonetheless, it serves as a mirror to societal bigotry and the lengths to which individuals will go to uphold their beliefs and protect those who are persecuted.