Film Review: SORCERY: Valentina Véliz Caileo Delivers a Compelling Performance in a Dark and Dreary Film [Sundance 2023]

Sorcery Review

Sorcery (2023) Film Review from the 46th Annual Sundance Film Festival, a movie directed by Christopher Murray, written by Pablo Paredes and Christopher Murray and starring Valentina Véliz Caileo, Daniel Antivilo, Sebastian Hulk, Daniel Munoz, Daniel Antivilo, Annick Duran and Sebastian Nunez.

Filmmaker Christopher Murray’s Sorcery is set in the 19th century on Chiloé, an island that makes for one of the most disturbing backdrops for a movie in recent years. That may be a compliment to the director because the unsettling events that occur during the course of the picture need that type of setting to flourish. In Sorcery, the leading role is played to perfection by Valentina Véliz Caileo. She plays a teenager named Rosa who ends up seeking vengeance for the death of her father. The film’s title is a bit misleading as although there is some sorcery to be found here, you won’t find a lot of enticing magic here but rather bleak spells which serve the plot’s purpose but won’t bring anything too exciting to the table regarding witchcraft. This film is more of a character study than a horror film, although there are horrific elements in it.

Rosa is a housekeeper who prays as a Christian but she is not seen as a true equal by some of those surrounding her in the movie. This movie’s plot kicks in as a German sheep herder named Stefan (an effective Sebastian Hulk) finds out that his sheep are dead. Rosa’s dad is killed by dogs as retribution for the loss of the sheep. Rosa is overcome with turmoil and despair and fails to get any help from the local Mayor (Daniel Munoz). Animals (dogs) can’t be arrested. What’s Rosa to do to deal with her grief? It seemed the punishment Rosa’s dad was given was extremely harsh but that is the catalyst for the plot to further develop. And develop, it does.

Pretty soon, Rosa meets a much older sorcerer of sorts named Mateo (Daniel Antivilo) who forms a bond with her and helps her cope with her tragic circumstances. Through her involvement with Mateo, Rosa starts to realize the significance of justice as the movie’s plot develops further. In the interim, some German boys disappear making the key characters in the film wonder what happened to them. In between plot developments, there are a lot of richly detailed scenes which ably convey the time period the film is set in. Though dark and gloomy, these scenes accurately convey the period the movie is set in, for better or worse.

Sorcery is anchored by the performance given by Valentina Véliz Caileo. She doesn’t give a showy performance but it’s a solid one. She quietly carries her character’s inner rage and sadness while hoping to find some sort of purpose and fulfillment in her solemn and intense life. While director Murray gets a performance by Caileo that could catapult her to stardom, some of the other actors in the movie turn in wooden performances. Hulk is appropriately over-the-top in his pivotal role here and Antivilo gives his character some real subtext but a few of the other second fiddle players feel stiff and their roles suffer a bit as a result.

Almost any sort of revenge movie should have a moment of recognition where vengeance is finally taking precedence.  I’m not sure Sorcery, for whatever reason, allows this scenario to truly take place in the picture. The violence that occurs feels very realistic and there is a lot of tension the movie produces in the latter scenes of the film that is rather effective. There’s simply no moment where we feel the fulfillment we are expected to feel in a film such as this one. There also is the whole concept of Mateo’s wisdom regarding the particular sorcery which is found in this movie. Basic revenge cliches don’t quite seem to fit into his principles.

There are a number of heavy-handed political statements which Sorcery may be trying to make. I would rather judge the film on its artistic merits than delve too deep into those details of the film which are not fully developed enough to warrant substantial criticism. Sorcery is still a well-made picture with a great turn by Caileo. There’s not much in terms of plot which would make the story stand out from a pack of similarly themed movies but it will hold your interest for a while. It has a unique film-making style, though, which is welcomed in a time where movies try to imitate others. This one is, visually speaking, a bit different from the rest, for better or worse.

Rating: 6.5/10

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