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(Genesis Cinema, 93-95 Mile End Road, Tue 19th Jul @ 18:30)
(London, Curzon Soho, 99 Shaftesbury Avenue, Thu 21st Jul @ 18:00)
"She Will"
"She Will" is a psychological horror about ageing actress, Veronica Ghent (Alice Krige), who travels to a remote retreat in Scotland with her nurse, Desi Hatoum (Kota Eberhardt), to recuperate from an operation. Once she's there, she discovers the dark history of the land and in doing so unravels her own past with vengeful consequences.
The film explores the story of Veronica Ghent who after a double mastectomy, goes to a healing retreat in rural Scotland with her young nurse Desi. Her intention is to recover from the operation, but once there she discovers that in order to heal completely, it's also necessary for her to psychologically meditate on her existence and certain traumas from her past. Veronica establishes a special bond with a young nurse named Desi, and together they discover mysterious forces related to dreams. She discovers that the process of such surgery opens up questions about her very existence, leading her to start to question and confront past traumas. The two develop an unlikely bond as mysterious forces give Veronica the power to enact revenge within her dreams. The stay in a secluded spa full of eccentric characters turns into a nightmare for ex-acting star Veronica when mysterious forces take possession of her. With what aim though?
"She Will" is a psychological horror about a woman’s expunging of her trauma through dreams. It’s about revenge, the power of nature, the unconscious, the way we carry within us the muscle memory of all those who came before and all those who will come after. The story has themes we've always been interested in within our practice and within our life. How trauma blurs our experience of reality and time, how nature holds so much solace, how we carry a psychological DNA, how the infinitely small, like a cell, contains the same patterns as the universe. How meaning and perspective and reality and time are all such fragile constructs that can break at any time. The genre of psychological horror seems to allow more artistic freedom than drama. It also at it's heart fittingly captures those existential feelings. It’s the type of project that’s always seemed to have a will and life of it's own.
It's amazing to see the different characters that congregated in the story. It seemed to attract a specific type of wandering soul who's interested, not necessarily in the occult, but more in the boundaries or the frontiers of where reality lies; the edge, just beyond what's visible. The process is simultaneously like being pulled face down behind a truck and also like dancing on the moon. Both those extremes every day. Love and war. Everyone united in this incredible sense of purpose and camaraderie. Like a journey together into the unconscious, for the viewers and the makers. And it's magic in both cases because it’s so unusual to dream together..There’s so much faith involved it feels a little mystical. And the spirits of women past are thanked in the credits as perhaps they're the ones to whisper this dream or nightmare to us.
Written by Gregory Mann
