Coven (2020)

Well, they say that you sell a film on its first few minutes, and if so, then it’s a piece of guidance which Coven director Margaret Malandruccolo has taken to heart in this, her first feature-length. The film begins with five lingerie-clad young witches turning up at an evocative ruined building, ready to begin a ritual of, apparently, some import. One of their number, Christy (Sara Stretton) seems a little out of sorts; we’re shown in flashback that she arrived earlier for some pre-drinks with the rest of the girls, and they were none too pleasant to her. This continues into the ritual itself – a ritual intended to raise the goddess Asherah (if I’ve got that right) and, well, it’s all a little more grisly than your standard-issue Wicca.

Soon, the coven is looking for another member to complete their circle. As luck, or fate would have it, there’s another girl at their college who is already a believer: we see her, in the company of a companion, trying to reach her deceased mother via a part seance, part vision. This girl, Sophie (also the writer of the film, Lizze Gordon) is none too impressed with the overt occult leanings of the coven; truth be told, this isn’t exactly a merry bunch, and with the exception of head witch Ronnie (Jennifer Cipola) and her girlfriend Jax (Miranda O’Hare), none of these girls would ordinarily be friends. It’s only the lure of using the coven’s magic to reach out to her mother which finally entices Sophie. Meanwhile, whilst talking to her history professor, Sophie spots a strange, some might say wyrd historical precedent in the Calvert coven, comprising natives of the same area who themselves performed a conjuration exactly two hundred years before…

In a way, the plot and how it plays out here is perhaps lesser in interest – at least to some extent – compared with how this film fits in to a long tradition of witchcraft cinema. Coven replicates a lot of the new wave of magical thinking which emerged in the late 60s and early 70s – its magic references things like the importance of direct descent through bloodlines, the elements, blood-letting, and of course, an obscure goddess I didn’t recognise. The witches themselves are very eroticised and often bloody – which calls to mind the sexualised occult magazines of the same era. However, Coven also has a lot in common with The Craft, and the kind of high school-adjusted magic which encompasses basic bitchery and female rivalry. There are several plot points which mirror The Craft – an influential film, after all, which is now nearly a quarter of a century old: the outsider with a friend who works in an occult store, a group of girls who need her despite themselves, a deranged gothy head-witch who wants all the power for herself…the list goes on. In a way, Coven acts as a bridge between one spin on witchcraft and another, later and very well-established one. Crystals and spells rub shoulders with catty competitiveness and it seems that the epithet ‘thot’ has made it into occult cinema in the year 2020.

As for the film itself, it’s actually really good fun. Yes, you can spot the influences, but Coven is none the less entertaining for that. There’s some amusing dialogue, some exploratory shooting styles, and some diverting OTT occult pay-offs which are never dull. Better still, there’s no proselytising here: Coven has no qualms about throwing a few trashy elements into the mix. It doesn’t waste any of its modest running time, either, and by going further than its influences in terms of blood, nudity and pure twentysomething feminine spite, it gets away with it all. If you have a place in your heart for cinema which doesn’t necessarily want to teach you anything major, but wants with all its might to divert you for eighty minutes or so, then have at it: this is enjoyable occult fare, and a great first feature.

Coven will be released onto DVD/VOD on 14th July 2020.