Director-writer-editor Charles Wright creates a lo-fi film called The Latest Witch. Notably, this short film has a loose plot. A young witch (Gina Romantini) rides on her bicycle across West Hollywood. She is in a hurry for an unspecified Halloween occasion. The witch goes through all sorts of struggles, such as dealing with rude people on the road and being unable to park her bike in a garage.
During her journey, illustrations by Christine Todd show up sporadically, and they indicate the witch’s prior happy state. Throughout the film, we see her make snarky remarks and mutter profanity under her breath. The film is scored by the catalog of Dark Shadows, Blondie, and Joe Jackson, which contrasts with the frantic DIY aesthetic.
“A young witch rides on her bicycle across West Hollywood. She is in a hurry for an unspecified Halloween occasion.”
The Latest Witch is a brisk, six-minute “fly-on-the-wall” film. Wright leans into the scrappy, barebones vibes through his creative choice of filming with an iPhone. His camera angles are dynamic with a mix of low-angle, bicycle POV, and shaky cam shots. These well-edited shots draw the viewer’s eye to the witch’s unfortunate situation. From an artistic perspective, this level of creativity puts him above indie filmmakers who just do the bare minimum. He even throws in layered dissolves, and that’s an editing technique that is barely used in contemporary films.
Gina Romantini does a solid job at blending nonchalant naturalism and exaggeration in her performance. Her acting clashes with her classic witch costume. I would be remiss not to highlight Christine Todd’s illustrations. Her artwork has a gentle and lighthearted children’s book feel. These colorful interludes provide a sharp visual contrast to the concrete dullness of West Hollywood.
West Hollywood itself is a character in the film. Even the parking garage feels cavernous and mysterious. Guerrilla filmmaking has its own peculiar charms, and Charles Wright is unafraid to embrace unconventionality in his film. The Latest Witch is an indie short that will wow its audience, with idiosyncratic visuals and music video structure.
"…During her journey, illustrations by Christine Todd show up sporadically, and they indicate the witch’s prior happy state."
