War Witch

Released Mar 1, 2013

1h 29m

Drama

War

List

94%

Tomatometer

63 Reviews

78%

Audience Score

5,000+ Ratings

African rebels force a village girl (Rachel Mwanza) to kill her own parents and join their army, but a miraculous event makes the rebels think she has supernatural powers.

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Critics Consensus

War Witch is a mature, intense drama that embraces the bruatlity of its subject and invites the audience to sympathize with its protagonist's nightmarish circumstances.

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Dwight Brown

National Newspaper Publishers Association

Nguyen's direction and script rarely falter. It's a near-perfect blend of harsh reality and mysticism.

Rated: 3/4

Mar 7, 2017

Full Review

Michael O'Sullivan

Washington Post

It may be hard for a viewer to accept some of the paranormal goings-on in War Witch -- the ghosts, the superstitions, the otherworldly powers -- but they're nothing compared to the realities that Komona has to endure.

Dec 17, 2013

Full Review

Bill Stamets

Chicago Sun-Times

Atrocity and beauty somehow co-exist in War Witch.

Rated: 4/4

Dec 17, 2013

Full Review

Kelly Jane Torrance

Washington Examiner

That the teenage Rachel Mwanza can show us, and make us feel viscerally, a bit of what such a child goes through is a miracle in itself.

Rated: 3.5/4

Dec 12, 2018

Full Review

Kiva Reardon

Cinema Scope

It's a parlour trick, creating the illusion of activism while passively watching. Dark arts, indeed.

Oct 3, 2017

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

A powerful and unforgettable emotional viewing experience.

Rated: B+

Jul 15, 2014

Full Review

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david l

War Witch is not the most pleasant viewing experience, but it does offer an important look into the worst horrors happening in Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular focusing on child soldiers and everything that they go through. It features overly tragic, at times plain implausible plot scenarios, but the directing is strong, the naturalistic acting is excellent and the film is tonally unique as the sweetness of the second act is well contrasted with the horror of the other two acts.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

dave s

Komona, a twelve-year-old girl living in an unnamed African country, finds her life changed forever when armed rebels invade her village and recruit her as a child soldier after forcing her to shoot her parents. Over time, she is deemed to be a War Witch, believed to have the ability to sense the presence of the enemy and, disturbingly, see the dead. Not surprisingly, based on the subject matter, it is a deeply unsettling account of an unforgivable sin – the recruiting of children for warfare. However, the touchy subject is handled with great restraint from director Kim Nguyen, who manages to imply the horrors experienced instead of showing them in graphic detail. To its detriment, the film sometimes spends too much time on surrealistic elements that lessen the impact of the story, but it remains a memorable film about humanity's failings.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Late R

An engaging drama about the sudden change in the course of a young girl's life as she is forced into a rebel army made pre-dominantly of child soldiers, a tale that is all too common in reality. The film manages to be brutally honest in its depiction of the barbarism surrounding its subject matter without ever going too over-the-top, and although there are some supernatural elements, they are handled with subtlety and serve their purpose well in enhancing the story. Ultimately, despite a few uplifting and light-hearted scenes, 'War Witch' is a rather dark and sombre tale that reminds us of some of the more horrific goings-on in Africa.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/17/17

Full Review

Audience Member

Serait meilleur si Nguyen ne travaillait pas de manière aussi impersonnelle et calculée, sortez vos petits violons, le dude veut vous faire pleurer et ça parait

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

guillaume h

The narration is beautifully paced, every scene counts. The contrast of horror and beauty stuns but never through shock, always in respect, the simple grace of evidence. Its lyrical without losing itself in melodrama, brutal without falling into the obvious trap of horror for the sake of it (as it would have been so easy to do). This director has shed light and given shape to a tale that will last.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Barbaric and unforgiving, War Witch (2012, Canada) is a horrifying tale of child soldiers. Invested in the darkness of humanity although offering a brief comedic respite, War Witch is a socially relevant commentary aware of the repercussions of war and power. Dark 7

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

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Kim Nguyen

Director

Rachel Mwanza

Komona

Alain Bastien

Commandant

Serge Kanyinda

Magician

Ralph Prosper

Boucher

Mizinga Mwinga

Great Tiger

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Synopsis

African rebels force a village girl (Rachel Mwanza) to kill her own parents and join their army, but a miraculous event makes the rebels think she has supernatural powers.

Director: Kim Nguyen
Producer: Pierre Even, Marie-Claude Poulin
Screenwriter: Kim Nguyen
Distributor: Tribeca Film
Production Co: Item 7, Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC)
Genre: Drama, War
Original Language: French (Canada)
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 1, 2013, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 10, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $37.9K
Runtime: 1h 29m

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