The Little Mermaid re-written — with witches? You Won’t Be Alone is possibly one of the most beautiful but dull horror movies I have seen to date. The story follows a young girl named Nevena who has grown up in 19th Century Macedonia under the guise of Old Maid Maria, a witch whom her mother promised Nevena to when she was a baby. Living in isolation until her teenage years has taken a toll on Nevena’s ability to interact and function as an ordinary human. Through her journey of shapeshifting into multiple people, she gradually learns her place in the world and how to find peace.

The story is beautiful in its own bloody, fairy-tale light, and pulls at the heartstrings more than it plays with our nerves. It does not need long to put us in a happy medium of drama, angst, and fluff. Notice I did not say fear. I would pride this film on its actors and how the multiple actors (including a very cute dog) who play Nevena each take on the role while still trying to maintain the child-like curiosity and oddity that the main character exudes. 

However, as its trailers would suggest, You Won’t Be Alone is not half the thriller or the stress-inducing film it wants to be. I felt as though I was not in any rush to find out if Nevena can be accepted by the human world, even though I had anticipation of a bleak ending. Everything is taken with a grain of salt in the first thirty minutes, where Old Maid Maria tries incredibly hard to teach an uncultured Nevena how being a witch, or “Wolf Eateress”, works.