The Love Witch (2016)

Such a frustrating disappointment

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

There are some excellent reviews on here, so i am only going to try and add to them and not repeat, nor will I go over the plot.To the casual viewer, the first impression may be that they are watching an old film, this is quite deliberate; the lighting, the colours, the make-up, all hark back to the 60s and 70s. Then someone pulls out a mobile phone or you notice that Trish is driving a modern BMW. The dissonance is striking and adds to the undercurrent of unease.The acting is very deliberate, much as it is in Twin Peaks; the subtext is not as convoluted as it is there, but it adds to the old-fashioned texture. Unfortunately, this causes a major miss-step when you can't tell if the acting is bad or if that's the way they were told to behave; I'm looking at you, crowd scene in the strip-club. Which reminds me, there is nudity in the film; really not sure why some people are making a bit deal about it, it's pretty innocuous.The overall theme is suffocating love, embodied in the glamorous form of Samantha Robinson, pitch-perfect as the horribly self-involved witch of the title, living in her insane fantasy life. She is ably supported in this by all the main actors and the director herself, who created the costumes, the amazing rug, the spell book and so much of the background.Maybe 2 hours is a little too long, but I really enjoyed this film and look forward to more from this director.

I don't exactly recall what I was expecting when I saw this film. Horror? Soft porn? Witchery? or Nothing? Anyway, the movie rolled on the frail shoulders of the lead actress, Samantha Robinson. The sets were colorful, the period setting confusing.. (we see 70s style cars and costumes.. we see someone holding a 90s style cell phone), the props were Barbie Dollish and the overall plot was simple, but confusing. And yet, the movie as a whole was eye-popping, from Samantha Fox, sorry, Robinson, to the lush backgrounds, the sex scenes and a subtle message. This message, although lost in the general atmosphere of sex and wiccan rituals, was that in modern society, men and women are moving apart from each other, failing to understand each other, and becoming bored with each other. Why? Because neither sex, particularly the females, make any attempt to understand their male partners. Now this premise may not be palatable to feminists, but I subscribe to it. There is nothing wrong with the two sexes cooperating with each other, rather than competing with each other. And this message is sought to be brought out by Anna Biller - who has apparently created this surreal masterpiece on her own, on a tight budget. Kudos to her. The treatment had several loopholes, no doubt.. but why discuss them. Let the viewer discover them on his own. My favorite sequence was not of Samantha in her lingerie, rolling about on a pentacle.. it was of her renaissance style wedding, which fully brought out the pagan practices of the wiccans in detail and the fantasy elements of the film as a whole.My personal compliments to Anna Biller for her painstaking efforts in bringing forth a lost era with such cinematographic detail.

The story and plot are awful. I couldn't even sit through the entire film, as the acting was just plain horrible to watch. The direction is sub-par, at best. It reminds me of the old 60's-70's porno's in which the acting and story lines were dreadful. I would not recommend this for anyone unless you are looking for something to fall asleep to or satisfy a late night urge.

I expected no good of this film but was prepared for silly new age nonsense and weird sex play of kinky nature and was greatly surprised by the high artistry of this very modern film which nonetheless hits a timeless character. Everything in it is good, it's a fascinating play with imagination, the story develops constantly into more ingenious innovations, in spite of the dominating occult ingredients it's very logical all the way, the actors are all good and convincing although they more often than not go over the top, and especially the music is very well made. The wedding scene tops the film and establish its character of almost Shakespearian timelessness, like in the forest of Arden, and although many would find the finale objectionable and unnecessary, it can at the same time be seen as inevitable.Above all, it offers a very interesting insight into occult developments of the present world with the revival of ancient paganism, which is a very dynamic movement occurring all over the world today, maybe as a counterpoise to the threat of Islam, and the several ritual scenes are among the best in the film. This was a fascinating experience and something quite out of the ordinary and the more appreciated for its originality.