It’s a proverb as old as time, “Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.” Young mother Zhenya (Yana Enzhaeva) is about to get schooled in this little piece of ancient wisdom in a big way in the supernatural Russian import Dark Spell, from director Svyatoslav Podgaevskiy, who co-wrote the picture with Natalya Dubovaya and Ivan Kapitonov.
All Zhenya wants is for Kira (Konstantin Beloshapka), a sculptor, to be a loving husband and supportive father to their infant daughter, Polina. But Kira is your textbook dirtbag, more interested in getting laid than in settling down into domestic life. Dejected, Zhenya does what any of us might do in her situation: she visits a local gypsy, Aza (Sabina Akhmedova), who provides her with a magic love spell. This will make Kira hers, and she will be his. Listen, this might sound callous, Zhenya, but you need better coping skills.
“Kira goes from wanting nothing to do with Zhenya to full-blown obsessed…”
She casts the spell, and it works! It works a little too well, actually. Kira goes from wanting nothing to do with Zhenya to full-blown obsessed with her, even going so far as to creepily try and take a plaster mold of her face while he has sex with her. Luckily, she has an ally of sorts in Doctor Victor (Ilya Ermolov), whose wedding to Sonia (Varvara Borodina) Zhenya ruined by dramatically passing out in front of them as they were exiting the church. Not that it mattered much because not long after the newlyweds took Zhenya to the hospital, Victor dumped Sonia when he found her cheating on him with their friend Oleg (Nikita Yuranov). Ouch!
Victor is a kind guy and furnishes Zhenya and Polina with solace – medically and platonically – following Kira’s multiple frightening obsessive episodes. Eventually, Zhenya realizes the horrible mistake she made in casting the spell, and with Victor’s help, she seeks to right the wrongs she has bestowed upon everyone involved.
"…makes good on its spooky promise."
