Review: ‘The Old Ways’ Is a Female Centric Exorcism Story That Swaps Catholicism for Witchcraft

The Old Ways is now streaming only on Netflix. Reader Beware, Spoilers Ahead!!

Exorcism in film is something we have been watching since the infamous The Exorcist in 1973. But instead of being rooted in Catholicism like so many (I need an old priest and a young priest) director, Christopher Alender sets his tale of demonic possession in a forgotten town in Mexico with The Old Ways. Opting for brujeria, the witchcraft of Latin America in place of holy water and a bible.

Journalist, Cristina (Brigitte Kali Canales), takes an assignment that will bring her back to her childhood home which she hasn’t seen in 20 years. Upon returning she sets out to find a cave system known as the La Boca, a forbidden area that she has been warned not to travel to. She wakes up chained to a bed with no memory of what has happened or how she arrived in this cell.

Forced to consume goats milk and not being able to communicate with her captors she is confused, angry, and just wants to leave. But when the mysterious bruja (Julia Vera), an old witch with charms, tribalistic face paint, and a staring dead eye states that “it’s in her,” her situation takes a turn for the worse. 

Reuniting with her cousin Miranda (Andrea Cortés), who acts as her translator and guides her through what is happening. Despite Cristina’s indifference to the whole charade, she decides she might as well play along as there is no way they are going to let her leave if they believe a demon is hitchhiking inside her. Thus, begins the multi-day ritual to expel the evil in a series of ever-escalating sessions with the witch.  

As each ritual breaks her down physically and emotionally, Cristina slowly realizes that there may be something to this after all and her skepticism is washed away as she comes face to face with her past, and the monster hiding under her skin. 

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An exorcism film in the most minimalistic sense, The Old Ways takes place solely in the space of one room, deep in the jungles of Mexico. this could almost be a play with a lone character left to her thoughts in a cell battling her demons with only her cousin Miranda, the Bruja Val and Val’s son (Sal Lopez) entering and leaving.  

It’s not only budget effective, but it also puts the viewer chained beside her, as we only get glimpses of the outside world through stolen glances peering out gaps in the stone. We too are left wondering what is being prepared behind the locked doors and dreading the sundown and the entity locked in with us. Addiction runs parallel to possession in The Old Ways. Cristina is addicted to heroin and the whole affair can be viewed as a metaphor for detox. I was waiting for the twist that all her experiences were just her kicking the habit after her supply runs dry, but I was happy I was wrong.  

The Evil Dead remake touched on this subject as well; addiction leaving one open to possession, and the sadness and hopeless nature of an addict wishing to get clean leaves one vulnerable to evil looking for a host. It was handled well within the structure of the narrative and not just shoehorned in for dramatic effect. We’re given flashbacks throughout from Cristina’s childhood which caused her to have to leave the town, to the fateful day she entered the cave. Each segment giving us a glimpse as to why she blocked out her heritage and why she ended up within these four walls despite the warnings.  

The production design is fantastic. With only a one-room location for 95% of the film, the set and production designers could go all out and tell a history within the walls that made it clear Cristina wasn’t the first to be brought here or be the last. With symbols and hieroglyphs covering the walls, you soon realize that they’re not just there to look ominous, but a step by step of what is about to proceed. I couldn’t help but correlate the images on the cell walls with the tapestry from Midsommar. All one had to do is pay attention and the story was laid out in front of you. 

The scares range a bit for me; there are some notable jump scares, but as a genre viewer, you could pinpoint when the music sting and visual were going to hit. I found the more subtle creepiness to be much more effective in setting that uneasy feeling of dread and anticipation. There is a scene involving candles going out one by one, which I found to be the strongest in the film.  

A unique take on the possession troupe, The Old Ways is a blend of magic, supernatural and female-centric storytelling that sets it apart from a lot of the entries into the sub-genre. No white knight is riding in to save our heroine, she must trust in her family, conjure up the strength, and find the will to survive if she is going to expel the evil that has consumed her and find her place within, and understand the culture she left behind. 3.5/5

The Old Ways is now streaming only on Netflix, you can check out the trailer below. Be sure to follow ScaryNerd for more of all thing horror, sci-fi and more.

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