Mexican occult lore meets estranged family drama in this supernatural horror film from director Christopher Alender and screenwriter Marcos Gabriel. The Old Ways would make a fine selection for theology and Latin American studies students.
Mexican American journalist Cristina Lopez (Brigitte Kali Canales) left the Veracruz jungles following her mother’s death. When she returns for a story she’s writing, she’s captured by a bruja (Julia Vera) who believes Cristina is demon-possessed.
The bruja tries multiple exorcisms with help from her son Javi (Sal Lopez) and Cristina’s cousin Miranda (Andrea Cortes). Throughout this process, Cristina fights tooth and nail to survive while reckoning with the heritage she can no longer ignore. As viewers, we share her struggle: Do we side with Cristina, or do we trust these ancient-lore followers to know what is best for her?
The Old Ways is a strong horror film with clever misdirections and gory scares. It’s special for its genre for two reasons: It subverts expectations by delivering brujeria in place of traditional Catholic exorcisms. But most surprisingly, it takes character building as seriously as the fear factor, without sacrificing either.
In this thematically rich tale, Cristina’s supposed possession becomes a metaphor for addiction. It’s also a catalyst for her acceptance of her Veracruz roots and for the development of her relationship with her cousin, Miranda. Throughout the movie, the two are soundboards for each other, as they attempt to sort out their own perspectives and help each other through their respective battles.
Pitting two cultural perspectives against one another as The Old Ways does requires a sensitive approach; Alender’s and Gabriel’s is to centralize the theme of embracing one’s heritage. Rather than promoting one perspective as better, the film forces the viewer to empathize with both, while it comments on the negative effect of cultural erasure.
The film loses momentum in its last 30 minutes, having already accomplished everything it needed to. Nevertheless, The Old Ways is a must-watch for lovers of the exorcism genre and a valuable purchase for horror and foreign language film collections. Recommended.