War Witch (2013)
87%RT Audience Score: 78%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
34 wins & 14 nominations total
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
War Witch is a movie that will make you feel like you’ve been through a war yourself. It’s a powerful and emotional experience that will leave you breathless. The director and scriptwriter, Kim Nguyen, did an amazing job of blending reality and mysticism. The story follows a young girl named Komona who is forced to become a child soldier in a living hell. The movie doesn’t sermonize or propose a solution to its larger problems, but instead, it’s a portrait of a life. The actress who played Komona, Rachel Mwanza, did an incredible job of showing us what it’s like to be a child soldier. It’s a harrowing film that refuses to let up long enough to let you catch your breath. If you’re looking for a movie that will make you feel something, then War Witch is the movie for you.
Production Company(ies)
Rossen Films,
Distributor
Tribeca Film
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic Of Congo
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2012
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 29m
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Language(s):French, Lingala
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Country of origin:Canada
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Mar 1, 2013 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 8, 2013
Genre(s)
Drama/War
Keyword(s)
War Witch, drama, war, 1h 29m, directed by Kim Nguyen, written by Kim Nguyen, produced by Pierre Even, Marie-Claude Poulin, starring Rachel Mwanza, Alain Bastien, Serge Kanyinda, Ralph Prosper, Mizinga Mwinga, Jean Kabuya, box office gross $37.9K, Tribeca Film, MPAA rating, critics consensus, critic reviews, audience score, child soldiers, African rebels, village girl, supernatural powers, brutality, intense drama, mature, sympathize, protagonist, nightmarish circumstances, ghosts, superstitions, otherworldly powers, realities, subject, mysticism, atrocity, beauty, continent’s tragedy, young girl’s face, harshness, everyday tone, frightening, child soldier, hope, Lars von Trier-hellscape, romantic subplot, albino magician, white rooster, sad fairytale, dark phenomenon, extranormal ability, rebel leader, unpredictable, ethereal, effective, guilt, pain, magic realism, horror movies, MCU movies, Netflix series, TV shows, streaming movies, most popular, trending
Worldwide gross: $313,387
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $404,026
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,793
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 44,060
US/Canada gross: $70,544
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $90,947
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,673
US/Canada opening weekend: $8,714
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $11,234
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,677
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $3,500,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $4,512,285
Production budget ranking: 1,927
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $2,429,866
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$6,538,125
ROI to date (est.): -94%
ROI ranking: 1,987
Alain Bastien – Commandant
Serge Kanyinda – Magician
Ralph Prosper – Boucher
Mizinga Mwinga – Great Tiger
Jean Kabuya – School Camp Coach
Director(s)
Kim Nguyen
Writer(s)
Kim Nguyen
Producer(s)
Pierre Even, Marie-Claude Poulin
Film Festivals
Berlin, Tribeca, Cannes, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
34 wins & 14 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (63) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (59) | Rotten (4)
Nguyen’s direction and script rarely falter. It’s a near-perfect blend of harsh reality and mysticism.
March 7, 2017 | Rating: 3/4
Dwight Brown
National Newspaper Publishers Association
TOP CRITIC
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.
December 17, 2013
Michael O’Sullivan
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
Atrocity and beauty somehow co-exist in War Witch.
December 17, 2013 | Rating: 4/4
Bill Stamets
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
Being a child soldier is tough to imagine, but Canadian writer-director Kim Nguyen takes on the challenge without many qualms.
December 17, 2013 | Rating: 2/5
Jake Wilson
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
War Witch gives us a continent’s tragedy in a young girl’s face.
December 17, 2013 | Rating: 3.5/4
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
Nguyen brings the harshness of this world alive not with big dramatic flourishes but with an everyday tone that makes it all the more frightening. This is how it is – how else would it be?
June 13, 2013 | Rating: B+
Tom Long
Detroit News
TOP CRITIC
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.
December 12, 2018 | Rating: 3.5/4
Kelly Jane Torrance
Washington Examiner
It’s a parlour trick, creating the illusion of activism while passively watching. Dark arts, indeed.
October 3, 2017
Kiva Reardon
Cinema Scope
A powerful and unforgettable emotional viewing experience.
July 15, 2014 | Rating: B+
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
War Witch doesn’t sermonize or propose a solution to its larger problems. It’s a portrait of a life. It just so happens that said life is playing out in a living hell.
December 17, 2013 | Rating: B
AP Kryza
Willamette Week
This harrowing film refuses to let up long enough to let you catch your breath.
December 17, 2013 | Rating: 3/4
Jesse Kinos-Goodin
National Post
With intelligence and deceptive simplicity, Nguyen injects the discombobulating impact of grief, conflict and PTSD (with the added effects of magic milk), to delve deeper than a simple observed account of a soldier’s bid for freedom.
December 17, 2013 | Rating: 4/5
Fiona Williams
sbs.com.au…
Plot
A young girl in Africa is forced to become a child soldier and kill her own parents, but a miraculous event leads the rebels to believe she has supernatural powers in War Witch.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film stars Rachel Mwanza as the protagonist, Komona.
Kim-Nguyen.jpg
