There’s no denying that 2020 has been full of surprises. One of the more unexpected ones in the world of film may just be Robert Zemeckis’ latest feature; an adaptation of famous children’s author Roald Dahl’s The Witches. With a stellar cast and some top notch character design and effects work, the shock here is just how dark Zemeckis’ take on the source material turns out to be. Whilst The Witches may look like a fun family adventure from the outside, it veers into the macabre and horrifying side of Dahl’s world on several occasions, as the demonic Grand High Witch attempts to turn all the children of the world into mice. That jumbled tone between family friendly and horror makes for a particularly uneven viewing experience but one that also offers a ton of fun for bigger kids and adults if you can put up with some kiddy cheesiness and one hell of a showboat performance from Anne Hathaway.
Hathaway’s Grand High Witch is the leader of a particularly anti-children coven of witches, hell-bent on turning all the little tots into mice by way of the particularly wordy “Formula 86 Delayed-Action Mouse-Maker” potion. While it works in the confines of the story most of the time, be warned, this is a ridiculously over the top performance, as if Hathaway was on a personal mission to make sure her performance would be remembered over Anjelica Huston’s 1990 original. We’re talking a ludicrous accent wavering somewhere between German and Swedish, screeching in a register that would likely cause tinnitus from prolonged exposure and some truly horrifying visual effects which rival the original film’s incredible prosthetics to make the Witch look truly disgusting. Hathaway’s performance at once seems comedic, with the accent and some so-overt-they’re-covert jokes about her cat, but once the hunt for children gets going and the action starts to pick up it takes on a much more horrifying presence. There’s nothing quite like the sight of Anne Hathaway’s arms stretching to ridiculous lengths to ensnare a child to really give you nightmares.
That movement between the comedic and horrifying permeates the entire film and may have something to do with the extremely varied group of writers that penned the film (albeit likely different versions which have been combined). Kenya Barris (of Black-ish fame) and the great Guillermo del Toro share writing duties with Zemeckis here, and once that little fact is known it becomes immediately obvious where their influences have been taken. Del Toro’s signature gruesome spectacle and horrifying character design shines through in the witches themselves. The grand reveal of the witches’ true forms showcases some exceptional visual effects and character design which carry the horror maestro’s fingerprints. We’re talking knobbly feet without toes, three fingered clawed hands and mouths that elongate to reveal rows of razor sharp, demonic looking teeth. Hell, even the expanding nostrils of the witches, which are used for sniffing out children, are terrifying to look at. It’s all far too much for little children to take which begs the larger question of who exactly this film was made for?
Barris’ influences shine through in the development of our young, unnamed lead protagonist (Jahzir Bruno) and his Grandmother (Octavia Spencer). Almost the entire opening hour is devoted to establishing the relationship between this young boy and his only remaining guardian, herself almost a victim of witches in her youth who has studied the sneaky sorceresses in the years since. It works well to invest you in this young child’s terribly misfortunate life so far, so much so that you genuinely feel sick at the thought of him having to now deal with witches after everything he has been through. The relationship between the boy and his Grandmother is also incredibly sweet, based on love and the strict values of respect and obedience typical of Alabama in the 1960’s, with Spencer showing a fierce maternal instinct for her grandson. Bonded together by circumstance, the grandmother struggles to bring the boy out of his shell following some traumatic events and the thought of losing him to witches is enough to cause sheer panic and a stay at a palatial nearby hotel to escape the witches she believes are in her town.
Once here, the boy soon realises that the witches are not in their town and that the hotel is unwittingly host to a gathering of their ilk from all over the state. When the boy and his newfound friend Bruno Jenkins (Codie-Lei Eastick) are transformed into mice by the coven, they team up with the boy’s pet mouse Daisy (Kristin Chenoweth) – herself a former child turned by a witch – and his grandmother to put a stop to the broom-riding baddies and their nefarious plan to transform all the children of the world into mice. Zemeckis further muddies the tone by filming the affair with bright, vibrant colours; an overtly positive outlook shining through in every scene despite the more horrific moments. There are moments of sheer zaniness that lend themselves well to that kid-friendly tone, often involving Stanley Tucci’s woefully unprepared hotel manager Mr. Stringer. These scenes are pure fun, even if they are a bit childish, often leaving you with a huge grin on your face. The hotel itself is often shot from a child’s perspective, emphasising the enormity and foreignness to the boy from a small-town. This only increases once he becomes a mouse, leaving the now doubly gigantic area to take on a more comical tone, with scenes in the kitchen area in particular looking like a live action Ratatouille.
The Witches is a particularly wild ride I will not soon forget, chiefly due to the sheer bizarreness of it all. What could have been a fairly tame family affair is given a potentially unwelcome bend by leaning into the macabre and terrifying attributes of the titular villains. While this works for those old enough to cope with the more horror-leaning aspects, it may alienate a lot of children, arguably the primary audience. Anne Hathaway’s nostrils expanding to the size of a small dog is an alarming sight – even for an adult – and will almost certainly ensure nightmares for little ones. If you do have bigger children though, or are just after a zany, whacky adventure with some genuine heart that occasionally steers into a more mature scariness, then give The Witches a go. It’s so crazy you might think you’ve been put under a spell yourself.
The Witches stars Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Jahzir Bruno, Codie-Lei Eastick, Kristin Chenoweth & Stanley Tucci – In Australian cinemas now and streaming on HBO Max in the US.