Ostensibly a horror film, “You Won’t Be Alone” is actually a quest into the mystery of life and living. It is a challenge to watch as it forgoes a straightforward narrative in favor of a stream-of-consciousness feel. The pastoral sequences of life in simple Macedonian villages is contrasted with a visceral sense of gore employed in body-snatching. Ultimately it is an example of cinema at its best, relying on images to tell a story rather than words.

The film begins in a village in the mountains of Macedonia. The time period of the film is never clear. But the various villages seem to have no electronic technology of any kind, although this could just be a result of isolation.

Children are playing a game of hide-and-seek. They are scolded by a woman who is trying to attend to her infant.

Suddenly there is a horrible presence in the room: a gaunt, older woman (Anamaria Marinca) covered in burn scars. The mother recognizes her as a witch and begs her not to take the child. She asks that the witch leave her child alone until she turns 16. The old lady marks the child and leaves.

The woman takes her baby into a cavern which has a natural skylight and a door. She declares that it is a holy place.

We then see the child as she matures over time. She is mute and is visited by the mother from time to time.

When the young woman, Nevena (Sara Klimoska), turns 16, the witch arrives and takes her out into the world. Everything is a new sensation to her. The witch, known as Old Maid Maria in the folklore of the area, makes a mark on the girl’s chest to transform her into a witch. The only obvious sign of this are the long dark fingernails which Nevena grows.

Nevena does not take well to having to kill animals to drink blood for sustenance. Maria abandons her. As Nevena wanders into a village, she takes the form of an abused wife. She does this through a process of placing the victim’s organs into her own body. She then transforms physically into that person so that an outside observer cannot tell the difference.

Even as the abused wife, Nevena retains her muteness. The villagers assume that this is because of the beatings she has endured. This opportunity allows the young woman to try being a regular person, to learn how to socialize, and to learn the rudiments of physical interactions, such as facial expressions and laughing, with others.

As the film progresses, Nevena migrates into several different bodies: a dog, a young man, and finally a young girl. In this last incarnation, we learn that she is capable of aging and growing.

With each body Nevena inhabits, she is periodically visited by Maria, who warns her about the fickleness of humans or causes harm to those she has grown to love.

Recapping what there is of a narrative structure does the movie a grave injustice as its simple threads do not convey the complexity of the film’s structure. As an audience, we have to deduce what is going on from observation alone. There is no explication whatsoever.

The sole exception to this comes in Nevena’s last incarnation when a village woman relates the tale of Old Maid Maria. It becomes apparent why the witch disdains humans and does not care at all if they suffer at her hand or someone else’s.

In each body which Nevena inhabits, we hear her thoughts about life. You realize that she is on a journey of discovery. She had no childhood experiences as a regular human, and now she has to discover what it is to be a person. She regularly comments on how “strange” life is and how hard it can be. Then she says “and yet,” which encapsulates the main theme of the film that life is worthwhile despite it all.

The scenes in the wilderness and in the villages are often filmed at very close range so there is a sense of immediacy and immersion to the action. The reliance on images and landscapes reminded me of Terrence Malick’s work in “Days of Heaven,” “The New World” and “A Hidden Life.”

To watch this movie progressing in images with only the occasional thoughts of Nevena and very little village dialogue is a challenge for the viewer. You truly have to pay attention or you could miss some vital clue about what is happening. Yet there is the wonderful feeling of satisfaction as you are able to apply your own interpretation to the stream-of-consciousness sensations on the screen.

The visceral gore involved in transforming into another body reminded me of the earthiness and messiness of living. It seemed like a form of birthing, albeit at the expense of another soul. Humans are not just emotional and thinking beings, but also physical ones.
The acting can only be described as naturalistic. There are no set pieces for any character. Rather every actor is part of the whole.

The visual effects, rare as they are, are indeed suitably bloody. To see someone pushing organs into their body is quite graphic. The makeup on Old Maid Maria is jarring to behold. The scene where she incurs the scarring through burning at the stake is simply incredible as we see her walking while on fire.

In reading about this film, I read that an old Macedonian dialect was used. I will say that I felt that I was losing something in translation when I read the text in English of Nevena’s often-philosophical thoughts. But then perhaps this only heightened my sense of assumption that, in hearing my own language spoken aloud, I can truly get at the heart of what is being said.

This is a quasi-horror film that is really about learning about life and living through the medium of body-snatching. The reliance on images instead of outright explication is the true essence of what cinema is, a visual medium. I found this to be a superb first feature.

Four and a half out of five stars

Set in an isolated mountain village in 19th century Macedonia, YOU WON’T BE ALONE follows a young girl who is kidnapped and then transformed into a witch by an ancient spirit. Curious about life as a human, the young witch accidentally kills a peasant in a nearby village and then takes her victim’s shape to live life in her skin. Her curiosity ignited, she continues to wield this horrific power in order to understand what it means to be human.

Cast: Noomi Rapace, Annamaria Marinca, Alice Englert, Carloto Cotta, Felix Maritaud, Sara Klimoska
Writer/Director: Goran Stolevski