You Won’t Be Alone: A Witch Learns What It Means to Be Human
Drawing on Macedonian folklore, director Goran Stolevski has made an erotically-charged tale about the quest for identity in his art horror film.
![You Won't Be Alone](https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/You-Wont-Be-Alone.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1)
The villagers refer to her as Old Maid Maria, invoking the witch’s name in order to make children behave.
But the Wolf-Eateress — or Volkojatka, as the superstitious peasants call this shape-shifting witch — is more than just a scary story in “You Won’t Be Alone.”
The adults also believe in Old Maid Maria: with her sharp black claws, she has terrorized the countryside for two centuries, surviving on the blood of newborns and wild animals. Turns out, that very long ago, she wanted a child of her own.
Macedonia-born writer-director Goran Stolevski shows Old Maid Maria in the film’s opening; horror movies typically try to keep the monster hidden for as long as possible.
Romanian actor Anamaria Marinca (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) reveals herself early as the Wolf-Eateress. But it’s her backstory, not appearance, that haunts, and asking viewers the representation of witches.