“The Old Ways” (2020) is an old story about a journalist who treads where she is warned not to tread and suffers the consequences. If it sounds like a new take on the “Little Red Riding Hood” fairy tale, you’re not far off.
Possessed, or not possessed?
Successful Mexican-American journalist Christina Lopez travels back to her home in the remote corners of the Veracruz jungle on assignment. Having been warned by her cousin about the dangers of the caverns of La Boca, that’s precisely where she treks. Bad plan. She should have stuck to the path.
She loses consciousness. Soon, she awakens to find herself chained in a dingy room, held under suspicion of demonic possession. Her captors are her earnest cousin, Miranda, and an adult son/mother duo: the avuncular Javi and Luz, a bruja trained in “the old ways.” The old ways include exorcism-employing chants in Náhuatl, psychic surgery, herbs and generous doses of goat’s milk.
“The Old Ways” (2020)
Director: Christopher Alender
Writer: Marcos Gabriel
Stars: Bridgitte Kali Canales, Andrea Cortes, Julia Vera, Sal Lopez
This is a straightforward but truly hypnotic film. It’s much more interested in its characters than gore, although there are some mild gross-outs and gentle jump scares. It’s not gory as much as gooey. That the role of goat’s milk is left unexplained demonstrates the filmmakers’ competence. Not every gooey weirdness needs an explanation. Some goo is just true. And gooey goat’s milk does not need a rationale to explain its gooiness. It just is.
Bewitching women
Initially, it’s difficult for the viewer to engage with Christina’s captivity because the plot drops that on us when we barely know her. As the film progresses, however, Christina’s vulnerabilities are layered on until she emerges as a deeply interesting protagonist. Her heroin addiction plays as a slightly too obvious mirroring of the local demon inhabiting her, a CGI-cloaked Postehki.
It’s nearly an all-female cast on display, and a strong one. The only male characters are Christina’s throwaway boyfriend who boringly bookends the narrative; a boy who may not be real; and Javi, who plays second-in-command to his mother, Luz. The cardboard boyfriend is the closest to a damsel-in-distress archetype.
Everything is driven by the capable females: Christina, her cousin and Luz. It’s a rare film in which the badass is the gray-haired matriarch. And it’s a rare film that considers the importance of ancient traditions and even, perhaps, their truth.
Is exorcism all it’s cracked up to be?
Every exorcism film climaxes with the ritual of exorcism – except this one. There’s still a reel to go when that spectacle concludes with Luz’s death. “The old ways die with her,” mourns Javi.
Or do they? Christina had returned home to poke fun at local folklore. Will she leave the jungle with the same skepticism? Or will she embrace the same path as Luz?
So is “The Old Ways” worth a watch? Gracious, yes. It’s a very strong film with a few surprises.
