Focus Features is planning a “moderate” domestic theatrical release for writer/director Goran Stolevski’s supernatural horror film You Won’t Be Alone, and the release date they’ve chosen for it is January 28, 2022. Noomi Rapace (Prometheus) stars in the film, which is set “in an isolated mountain village in 19th century Macedonia”.
The story Stolevski crafted centers on
a young girl who is kidnapped and then transformed into a witch by an ancient spirit. Curious about life as a human, the young witch accidentally kills a peasant in the nearby village and then takes her victim’s shape to live life in her skin. Her curiosity ignited, she continues to wield this horrific power in order to understand what it means to be human.
Deadline notes that the shape-shifting witch is played by different actors throughout the film. Rapace’s co-stars include Anamaria Marinca (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days), Alice Englert (Ratched), Carloto Cotta (Tabu), Félix Maritaud (Sauvage), and Sara Klimoska (Milcho Manchevski’s Willow). They didn’t give away which of the actors will be playing the witch, though.
The actors in the film deliver their lines in “an old Macedonian dialect”, so You Won’t Be Alone is drawing comparisons to The Witch due to the fact that both movies combine the presence of a witch with an old style of dialogue.
You Won’t Be Alone was produced by Kristina Ceyton and Sam Jennings. The film wrapped production in Serbia early last year, at which time Focus pre-bought the world rights. While Focus handles the domestic release, Universal Pictures International will be releasing the film in international territories.
This movie marks the feature directorial debut of Stolevski. The filmmaker’s short Would You Look At Her won the Best International Short Film award at 2018’s Sundance Film Festival.
I don’t expect to see You Won’t Be Alone during its theatrical run, but it sounds interesting enough to check out at some point.