There is powerful dark magic at the heart of Australian-Macedonian filmmaker Goran Stolevski’s spellbinding movie You Won’t Be Alone, which enjoyed its Australian premiere at the current Sydney Film Festival (SFF) after debuting at Sundance. Shot in and around a remote village clustered near the peak of a Serbian mountain, doubling for the land where he was born, Stolevski’s fantastical film depicts the terrible consequences of a deal made not with the devil, but a witch.
What follows draws on folk horror, but is also a surreal coming-of-age movie played out through various bodies borrowed by the young, voiceless kidnapee finding their way in the world. Expect plenty of bodily gore. ‘It’s really funny, because I’m the most squeamish human being alive,’ Stolevski says, laughing.
