A Look Back at the Media Witchery of 2024
The Best Witchy Movies of 2024
Happy New Year, everyone.
I trust you’ve emulated the Roman god Janus and taken a good hard last look at 2024 as you turn your gaze towards 2025. May this year bring better things for everyone. I know it’s rough right now. I know many people are struggling. I hope you can find moments of beauty and joy, comfort and inspiration, and that you can feel centered in all you do and plan to do.
As for me, I’m continuing my work researching and writing my book The Witching Hour: How Witches Enchanted the World. I’m now looking at all the new witchy media that has emerged in the previous calendar year, and there was a lot of it!
Will all of it be featured in my book? Alas, no. It’s not really a comprehensive catalog of media, more an exploration of social and artistic trends combined with deeper analysis of different texts. But the fact that witches, witchcraft, paganism, and the occult continue to be such popular subjects for film and TV (not to mention novels, comics/graphic novels, and anime) is encouraging, and kind of amazing, really.
2024 had a wide range of witchy stories on offer. I still have some films and TV to get caught up on, but I’ll start with a few witchy films worth seeing, and then in a new post cover some witchy TV, and add more films as I manage to see more (I am hunting for a few things that aren’t widely available yet).
I suppose the big name witchy movie of 2024 is Wicked. This was one of a small number of films I actually saw in a theatre. It’s wonderfully entertaining and thrilling to watch, full of fabulous dance numbers, gorgeous costumes, and great cinematography, plus a wonderful cast. The chemistry between Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as Elphaba and Glinda is simply magical, onscreen and, well, off (my goddess, this press tour!), and Jonathan Bailey (as Prince Fiyero) continues to impress me with his enormous talent. The film doesn’t shy away from engaging with socially conscientious messaging about othering and marginalizing people, and I think it does so intelligently and effectively. I dressed up in emerald green and pink for the occasion, and I’m looking forward to seeing it again.
Another popular film that isn’t ostensibly about witches but that turns out to be very witchy indeed, was The Substance, directed by French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat. Demi Moore plays an actress whose main claim to fame is being a sexy aerobics instructor, and when she turns fifty, Hollywood seems to be done with her, but she’s not done with Hollwyood. This film is an intense ride and I don’t want to spoil it if you haven’t seen it yet, but it’s not for the squeamish. Heck, I consider myself pretty inured to body horror and this had me covering my eyes and yelling out loud and shrinking into my seat over and over (I went with my friend Kate Laity and we recorded a podcast discussing it which I hope to have posted soon). The witchy part? Well, let’s go with the pervasive demonizing and ostracizing of older women, shall we? Plus that very witchy finger…eeek! (streaming on Prime and Apple TV)
But, folks, if you know me at all, you know I tend to prefer films that are somewhat off the beaten track, and we certainly had a lot of those, too. One innovative film that I tried twice to see at the London Film Festival (and missed getting a seat both times!) was Late Night with the Devil. The advance buzz on this was mighty, and with good reason. This clever period piece directed by Colin and Cameron Cairnes purports to be some “discovered footage” of a 1970s era talk show where a charismatic host (the great David Dastmalchian), hoping to boost his ratings, has a surprise guest on the show: a teenage girl who is said to be possessed by the devil. The live taping goes horribly awry and there’s plenty of wild paranormal and horror antics, some funny, some terrifying. This film really effectively captures the late 1970s cultural moment when the occult explosion was giving way to a rising paranormal obsession, and the imminent backlash of the Moral Majority, that ultimately led to the Satanic Panic. (streaming on Hulu, Prime, Apple TV and elsewhere)
One witchy film I expected to get more attention was Apartment 7A. This prequel to Rosemary’s Baby was directed and co-written by Natalie Erika James whose 2020 film Relic was one of my favorites that year. Julia Garner plays Terry Gionoffrio, a young dancer who lives in the same building with Rosemary Woodhouse, and who also knows the eccentric couple Minnie and Roman Castevet (here played by Dianne Wiest and Kevin McNally). This intriguing prequel digs into what led to Terry’s mysterious death, a pivotal moment in the 1967 film that leads to Rosemary and her husband Guy befriending the Castevets, who turn out to be Satan-worshipping witches. This spooky, suspenseful prequel to one of the most iconic horror films of all time has an authentic 1960s look and excellent performances, though personally I’d have loved to see a bit more backstory on the witch coven. (streaming on Paramount Plus)
In my next post I’ll continue exploring some more witchy films from 2024, including The Devil’s Bath, Witches of God, the British horror film Witch, Elizabeth Sankey’s documentary film Witches, and the wonderful Queer by Luca Guadagnino (who directed the 2015 remake of Suspiria), which has some occult goings-on and a very witchy cameo from Lesley Manville.
Then I’ll look at some TV series including Agatha All Along, Domino Day, Mayfair Witches, and another very witchy cameo in True Detective: Night Country. Until then, I wish you all a gentle entry into the new year…