The Love Witch

The Love Witch is a 2016 American comedy horror film written, edited, directed, produced, and scored by Anna Biller. The film stars Samantha Robinson as Elaine Parks, a modern-day witch who uses spells and magic to get men to fall in love with her with disastrous results. Shot in Los Angeles and Arcata, California, it premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. In May 2016, it was acquired for distribution at the Cannes Marché du Film by Oscilloscope Laboratories. The film received a limited release in the United States on November 11, 2016. The Love Witch was shot on 35mm film, and printed from an original cut negative. The film was acclaimed by critics for its playful tribute to 1960s horror and Technicolor films, combined with its serious inquiry into contemporary gender roles. In 2021, Samantha Robinson's portrayal of Elaine in the film was included in The New Yorker's list of the best movie performances of the 21st century. Plot Elaine, a beautiful young witch, is driving to Arcata, California, a town that tolerates witchcraft, to start a new life after the death of her husband Jerry. It is heavily implied that Elaine may have murdered him. Once there, she rents an apartment in a Victorian home owned by Elaine's mentor Barbara and kept up by its interior decorator, Trish Manning. In an attempt to befriend the young woman, Trish takes Elaine to a teahouse, where she is met by her husband Richard, who is instantly besotted with Elaine after meeting her gaze. Hoping to find a new lover, Elaine performs a ritual to find one and soon meets Wayne, a literature professor at the local college. The two travel to Wayne's cabin, where she gets him to drink a concoction containing hallucinogens. Once the two have sex Wayne becomes emotional and clingy which proves to be a turnoff for Elaine. He dies the next day and Elaine buries his body along with a witch bottle containing her urine and used tampon. She decides that the next man she will try to seduce will be Richard since he is married and cannot obsess over her. While Trish is away, Elaine invites him over to her apartment, where she also serves him a concoction before seducing him with a dance. The night ends with them having sex. Afterwards, Richard becomes obsessed with Elaine, causing her to abandon their affair.