The Trailer:
Director: Caryn Waechter
Cast: Georgie Henley, Willa Cuthrell, Olivia Dejonge, Kara Howard, & Kal Penn
Synopsis: Mary Warren (Georgie Henley), Catherine Huang (Willa Cuthrell), and Lavinia Hall (Olivia) Dejonge) form a secret Sisterhood consisting of themselves and other girls they've chosen. But when Emily Parris makes accusations against the Sisterhood, the small town in which they live is thrown into a frenzy.
The Sisterhood of Night is a modern-day witch trial that shows how easy it is to believe the worst of people labeled as outsiders, and how those beliefs can bring about a wide spread panic that isn't easily vanquished. It is the story of how a small town ostracizes a group of girls out of fear. It is a harrowing and poignant look at the bonds formed within groups of girls and how that bond can become tarnished through rumor and gossip.
What I appreciate most about this film is it's ability to make me hate and love the characters at various points. Mary Warren is annoyingly rebellious. What I mean is that her conviction to her self declared rules about the Sisterhood and her obnoxious aversion to adult authority is equals parts irritating and admirable. Because of her unwillingness to speak to anyone about the Sisterhood, she is constantly involving others who end up in just as much trouble as herself. Georgie Henley plays Mary Warren, the alpha-female, well and possesses a face of teenage apathy that fits well with the character. Catherine Huang, played by Willa Cuthrell, has this quiet wildness about her. She seems meek, but it becomes clear that there is a chaos that lives in her that she has reigned in and uses only when needed. She isn't as outspoken as Mary Warren is about their shared dislike of Emily Parris and the circumstances in which they all find themselves in, individually. She doesn't have any qualities in particular that I dislike, actually she might be the only character who is statically likable throughout the film. Lavinia Hall, played by Olivia Dejonge, is probably the weakest of the Sisterhood members. Her desire to be more than she is, more popular, more liked by the boy she has a crush on, more accepted is what ends up hurting her and I am saddened by it. I'm sad that her desires and hopes, two qualities that should lead to good things, are what lead her to be manipulated by others who have cruel intentions for her. I don't necessarily dislike her, I just dislike what happened to her and what she did to herself. Then the whole vow of silence made by all the members of the Sisterhood about their rituals angered me because if one of them just told someone what is was that they were doing none of the horrors that later happened would have occurred. Then there's Emily Parris, the one who makes heinous accusations about the Sisterhood and the pain they supposedly inflicted upon her, is the most unlikable character in any movie I've ever seen. Okay, maybe not the most unlikable, but one of the top. Her phony, unthinkable account of the Sisterhood's cult like rituals not only casts a dark shadow over the members, but catapults her into false fame among other abused girls. Emily Parris' desires to be popular made her into a monster who exploited other girls' pain and misfortunes in order to gain esteem among her fellow peers. Despicable! And then Gordy Gambhir, played by Kal Penn, is the school counselor who angered me because of his constant inappropriateness with the students. Let me be clear, he never actually does anything inappropriate with any of the students, but he does things that can easily be misconstrued. And in the midst of this Sisterhood cult accusations, with the entire town being under a magnifying glass, he does some rather stupid things that gets him in trouble. And I couldn't help but silently yell "what the fuck are you thinking?" at him! But on the other hand, he is the only character who believes the girls when they tell him that they didn't do anything that Emily Parris has accused them of, so I have to like him for that.
I especially like the way in which the story is unfolded. The movie is kind of told in a retrospective, documentary style format. Think Forensic Files or something along those lines, where we there is commentary from reporters and friends and family of the people involved in the crime or accused crime. It isn't until the very end that whatever truly happened is revealed. Personally, I appreciated that because it left me in the dark as much as the adult characters who were trying to discover the meaning of the Sisterhood. The format forced me to decide whether I believed the members of the Sisterhood or if I believed Emily Parris. The big reveal at the end of what the Sisterhood ritual actually was is a polarizing moment, I feel, for most viewers. You either like what they're doing or you were disappointed with what they were doing. And the cherry on top of it all, after the whole story is explained, is the dance routine/celebration through the town done by the Sisterhood members. It is a celebration of the bond between girls and the sense of safety in sisterhoods.
I enjoyed The Sisterhood of Night. It is a well crafted modern reworking of what we know of the Salem Witch Trials. It brings to the forefront the shame and disdainful connotation of what sisterhoods (or female groups of friends) mean. Would I watch it again? Yes, yes, and yes again.
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