Review by Chris Rennirt

Never before had I seen a film, of any genre, so completely like a poem…or, perhaps, completely a poem and not just “like” one.  You Won’t Be Alone, the new internationally co-produced horror film, written and directed by Goran Stolevski (in his directorial debut) is, finally, that movie/poem combo.  And what an incredibly-beautiful, utterly-horrific terror tale it is!  Yes!  The genre of folk horror has never been so literary and metaphorical, and, in being so, never more effective than its larger-budget, Hollywood competitors.  It is, impressively, and contrary to its title, totally alone in its cinematic achievements.

“I feel new rivers spin open inside me. 

Whoosh, they whoosh in. 

Deeper and deeper inside me. 

Me, the skin, they will bury it. 

But the witch? 

They can’t.” ~ Nevena

You Won’t Be Alone is also the first Macedonian horror film I’ve seen (or ever heard of).  It is, perhaps, a new sequel to the Macedonian folktale Old Maid Maria, if not already part of the story’s official canon (a topic of further research for myself).  It begins in 19th century Macedonia, with Maria (Anamaria Marinca)–a “Wolf-Eateress” with horribly burned skin—entering the home of a newborn baby, ready to kill and drink its blood.  The terrified mother tries to make a deal with Maria to spare her baby’s life; she will give her up to the Wolf Eateress  (to be her servant and caretaker) once the girl is 16.  Maria agrees, but robs the girl of her voice before leaving.  The mother hides the child, Nevena, in a cave, to protect her from the witch forever, raising her there with no knowledge of the outside world.  But, does this protect Nevena from the witch forever, after her 16th birthday?  If it did, we wouldn’t have a horror film, would we.  And thus, the story continues…

And how is this cinematic poetry presented to tell the story?  It is told, in large part, with voiceover narrations from the mute, main character, as her thoughts transformed to audible, ambient words, heard around us, rather than from her directly.  The result is a metaphysical experience of verse, more vivid and figurative than prose could deliver–far better than normal language, in the banal way it’s usually spoken.  External conversations are heard from other characters in the story; but the bulk of what we hear are the thoughts of Nevena.

“My life is like a river.

It flows and flows…

And it still stays in the same spot.” ~ Nevena

And when I talk of poetry here, I don’t mean the cutesy type that rhymes at the end of every line, forcing its meaning into something generalized and disconnected.  No.  This is free verse.  Every word means exactly what the author (in this case, the narrating thinker) intends, with the best metaphors, similes and literary devices used for expression and deeper thinking.  Here, just like in great literary verse, pictures are painted vividly in our mind, and the nuances of interpretation are liberating but telling.  And what a refreshing experience it is in horror!

Within the film is also woven the original folktale, Old Maid Maria.  It is told after a group of Macedonian children ask an elder woman in the village to tell them a scary story (yes, a scary ghost story before bed!).  The story is then blended seamlessly into the movie’s narrative, at just the right time, connecting it all to the larger story of origin, giving it all more meaning and relevance.

“Yours is to serve a husband’s will.

Where he wants to slip himself in…

You’re to let him in.

No shame.  None of that.” ~ Nevena

The acting in You Won’t Be Alone, overall and in general, is first rate and exceptional, including a cast that is international in scope.  Actors here hail from Sweden, Australia, France, Romania, and more, as well as the country of the story’s origin—Macedonia.  (Although I could commend everyone individually, I’ll be specific for brevity.)  Actress Sara Klimoska (a native of Struga, Macedonia) is Nevena, arguably the movie’s main character.  Klimoska–known for Willow (2019), Mocvara (2020) and Kaymak—looks much younger than her actual 28 year age, and easily passes for the 16 year old Nevena.  She initially explores her newfound world with all the wide-eyed fascination of a child, never making us doubt that it’s real.  However, since Nevena is a shapeshifter, she has many physical iterations, diverse human experiences, and transformations along the way.  Therefore, a numbered list of actors contribute to her journey and, with their exceptional performances, the movie’s great success.

A high point of the movie is the appearance of A-list actress from Sweden, Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest, and Prometheus)—the actress who also never appears to age!  Here, Rapace portrays Bosilka (Nevena #2).  As a mute, and first Nevena in the company of humans, Rapace acts with no words, her masterful expressions and body language making up for what she doesn’t say.  Rapace is well cast in such a crucial role—one in which Nevena is discovering, for the first time, what it means to be human, with all emotions experienced and facial articulation needed (the position of the mouth for laughter and the reasons for it, along with sadness and tears she struggles to produce).  A lesser actress would not have been so convincing and effective in such an emotive role; the movie could have floundered or showed weakness early on, as a result.  With Rapace, it showed high levels of success instead, from the beginning.

Another standout performance comes from actor Alice Englert.  As Biliana (Nevena #4), Englert provides the final, arguably most important ingredient.  She puts the cherry on top of the cake (the movie cake, that is), making it all the more bittersweet but delicious in the end, as it must be.  Englert portrays a cumulative human experience with mute but powerful emotion, as the final stage of Nevena’s metamorphosis, and the coup de grâce of the movie’s metaphorical journey.  In an interview about her role in the movie (on Youtube, titled You Won’t Be Alone, Alice Englert Soundbites, Part 1),  Englert talks about why she was drawn be a part of it.  She says, “it felt so tender and violent, and reminded me so much of so many things that I feel all the time.  It felt like a fairy tale that really does what I think fairy tales did in the beginning.”  She said that it’s also about the film’s message of “the going on anyway,” in life, not just with the joy, but even with the pain.  She said she also felt “vulnerable,” seeing so much of herself in her character and the story.  It is no doubt that the many personal connections Englert had with the film helped make her so successful at believably portraying Nevena’s emotions and developing humanness, as well as her interaction with the newly-discovered world around her.

You Won’t Be Alone was filmed, on location, in and around Serbia, mostly in the isolated mountain village of Pokrevenik.  And what a beautiful landscape and backdrop of ancient buildings and production value it is!  It’s another of those films that thrives on its successful use of what’s already there.  Whether it be so or not, there is nothing about the setting that looks fabricated or built just for the movie.  And, in a folk tale of this type, such authenticity of location is essential.  Also essential here is the near hundred-percent lack of computer-generated effects.  Other than a scene with what appears to be fireflies, all else are pure, makeup-applied, special effects of the old-school kind.  And, as I always say, effects that are “really there.”

If you’re looking for fast-paced hack horror with the usual clichés and overdone terror tropes, look elsewhere.  You won’t find it here.  If you’re looking for jump scares, punctuated by sudden, loud, startling noises, look elsewhere.  If you’re looking for fast-paced, frenetic action that confuses and obfuscates what’s really happening (making you numb to it all in the process), look elsewhere.  If you’re looking for a predictable plot with an ending you saw coming, don’t look here.  If you’re looking for movies that aren’t subtitled, look here anyway, even though this one’s in its original Macedonian language, with English subtitles.  Yes!  Even if you’re one of those who says, “I don’t like reading movies!” take the time to read this one anyway.  If ever there was a movie that gives cause for exception, it’s definitely You Won’t Be Alone.  Once you get into the movie’s poetic flow of events and visual imagery, you’ll forget you’re actually reading.  While some might this one “arthouse horror,” using the term as a pejorative, I call it “excellent horror,” of the type we don’t see often enough…or perhaps, of the type we’ve never seen before.

And to answer the question on the minds of gorehounds out there everywhere: Does literary and poetic mean light on blood and guts–the entrails of a good, visceral scare story?  Absolutely not!  There are enough innards here to impress a butcher, all kept vital to the story’s “organic” content, never gratuitous or unnecessary.  All is actually necessary for the physical, transformative elements of the folktale’s premise and core ingredients of its horror.  In the end, it’s a prime, well-bloodied cut above the rest.

As usual, there are many more questions to tantalize and captivate your interest.  Will Nevena, in the end, be a slave servant to Maria forever, never knowing the fate of her real mother, never understanding who or what she really is?  Will Nevena, like Maria, condemn humanness as an ultimately cruel, selfish condition, not worthy of desiring or, worse yet, being a part of?  What will Maria’s jealousy lead her to do, and what will it do to Nevena’s blossoming hope for herself and all of humanity?  What in God’s name is a Wolf-Eateress, and what is a meat hole?  (And no, the latter isn’t what your mind in the gutter is thinking!)  Does this movie offer hope for viewers who avoid and curse subtitled foreign films and slow-burn gems of cinema?  With “witch spitting,” blood drinking, and organ stuffing aside, the answers are all to be found in You Won’t Be Alone.  “And, since you just mentioned ‘witch spitting,’ what the hell is that?” you ask?  All I’ll say is this: Don’t do it in your meat hole!

And the title of the movie, while first seeming enigmatic and elusive, will likely (as it did to me), hit you over the head like a blood-dripping brick of blunt-force murder.  Just after you think, “What the #@%& sort of poetry-filled hogwash is in that declarative-sentence excuse for a wanna-be, art-house title?” it will, soon, be as clear as a Wolf-Eateress’ fingernail scrawling her demonic brand on your chest.  Here, you just need the patience of one watching…and yes, reading, a good poem.

Speaking of reading leads me to the only possible point of criticism about the subtitled version of the movie I watched (one I bought and streamed from VUDU).  There is an occasional impreciseness in the movie’s subtitles.  (And with this, I hope to not further discourage anyone already on the fence about “reading movies.”)  Although, for me, it never interfered with comprehension, some subtitles appeared to be more literal translations of Macedonian language, rather than translations into true, equivalent English.  This created only occasional syntactic differences (not semantic), and did not interfere with comprehension.  While it’s certainly nothing big, it is worth mentioning.

Think you’re fooling someone? 

Dressed in corpses? ~ Navena

What’s also worth stressing is how truly intelligent the film is, and what a universal message it has.  With all of Nevena’s shapeshifting, changing her emotionally as much as physically, we see the tragedy of her condition.  She does what she does not because she desires to, but because she must.  She shows us that she is a monster only because she has been deprived of humanity.  In the end, we learn an existential lesson, if not at least gain pause to think, about who—or what—we really are ourselves.

You Won’t Be Alone is the best horror movie I’ve seen so far this year, and it’ll probably be the best I see all year.  It’s a one-of-a kind horror poem on film, void of Hollywood tropes, jump scares, frenetic action, and mind-numbing predictability.  It’s a centuries-old folktale, brought to life with originality of settings, characters, and story, and a cast of second-to-none, international talent.  Folk horror, when done right, is the scariest, most effective in the genre.  You Won’t Be Alone is definitely done right!  And, as sure as there are Wolf-Eateresses and shapeshifters abound, Old Maid Maria has enough witch spit for us all!

Chris Rennirt (the author of this review) is a movie critic and writer in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as editor in chief at Space Jockey Reviews.  He has been a judge at many film festivals, including Macabre Faire Film Festival and Crimson Screen Film Fest, and he attends horror and sci-fi conventions often.  Chris’ movie reviews, articles, and interviews appear in Effective Magazine and are published regularly on Space Jockey Reviews.  His mission statement (describing his goals as a movie critic and philosophy for review writing) can be found on the “Mission” page, here at SJR.  For more information about Chris Rennirt (including contact details, publicity photos, and more), click here.

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