HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK, BUT WITH SATANISM
★★★☆☆ (Good for One Viewing)
Director: George A. Romero
1972
The most surprising thing about Season of the Witch—a movie with few surprises—is that a man wrote and directed this story about the paranoia and jealousy encompassing a woman’s mid-life crisis; that he successfully tapped into the secret fears they carry as the years turn to decades. Perfect for a girlfriends’ movie-night pairing with The Graduate, Romero makes Mrs. Robinson not only a sympathetic character, but a devil-worshiper.
Joan is a Catholic woman of a certain age who finds herself lost now that her daughter has grown up, and is having nightmares of her husband—who often travels for work—treating her like a dog. Unable to communicate with her spouse, Joan goes to a psychiatrist who tells her not to worry about the dreams and to find some sort of special purpose. Between predictable neighborhood parties with other married couples—where the wildest thing they do is play sexy Mad Libs—and being taken for granted by her husband, she can’t shake feelings of restlessness.
Relief comes in the form of a new neighbor named Marion, who proudly talks about how she practices witchcraft. Joan is curious about the books in her house and the stories she has to tell. After an interesting Tarot reading from Marion, Joan returns home with her friend to find her daughter hanging out with Gregg, a student teacher Joan lusted after in a previous dream. A smarmy Monkees reject who believes he’s the smartest person in any room, Gregg knows the most valuable currency is youth and he wields it like a weapon by tricking Joan’s drunk friend into thinking she smoked weed, and then making fun of her insecurities, most of them having to do with aging. This uncomfortable scene sums up Season of the Witch; this isn’t a movie about Satanism, but a movie about time stealing a woman’s power and turning her impotent. When advertisers no longer shill to your age group, when “kids” disrespect you in your own home, you have officially disappeared.
The loss of her daughter and Greg’s old lady pep talk are the catalysts for Joan’s next phase of life: her exploration into witchcraft, and she goes all in. She buys ingredients from basement shops and purchases a little cauldron from an antique store. She does spells in the living room while her husband sleeps. As you can imagine, her newfound powers give her everything she wants, but not for long. She goes from matronly to groovy, but at a cost.
Though George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead) throws in a few frightening visuals, this film is more of a sociological study than a horror flick; anyone looking for scares will be bored to tears. But if you’re of a certain age, you’ll appreciate the message in Season of the Witch. The young people who won’t understand this movie? Don’t worry. One day they will.
GENRES: Feminist-Friendly, Psychological
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