Which Witch Is Lisp?: A Review Of 'JETHICA'
A nice, covid-friendly distance.
No, it’s not a typo, nor a dig at Mike Tyson. “Jethica” is the name of the character Jessica spoken by an insane person with a lisp, though of course the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Sound weird? “Jethica” is pretty weird, but director Pete Ohs and his cast commit to their own specific weird, for better or worse.
Jessica (Ashley Denise Robinson of “The Beta Test”) arrives in a sparse New Mexico town, escaping from a stalker, who has trailed her all the way from Los Angeles. She encounters Elena (Callie Hernandez of “Alien Covenant” and “Shotgun Wedding”), an old high school friend who invites her to hide out in her trailer. Elena also happens to be a witch who offers to help Jessica with her stalker problem, with the help of some ghosts. In no time, her stalker shows up outside Elena’s trailer looking for his “girlfriend.”
“Is that what Marcellus Wallace’s soul looks like?”
While this may sound like a remake of “The Craft” or "Practical Magic”, it’s actually much closer to a mumblecore film. Ohs shares scripting credits with his actors (including Andy Faulker), who are all game, but the real MVP here is Will Madden, who plays Kevin, the ranting stalker. Kevin hangs around the edges of the film, and when he shows up, he’s spooky in the way he seems so casually insane. Instead of the patriarchal boogeyman you might be expecting, Madden portrays Kevin as a rambling wraith of a man with only a tenuous grip on reality. You wonder how he manages to cross a street, let alone track Jessica over state lines, which just makes him seem more dangerous. At one point, Kevin spends several minutes trying to appeal to Jessica in the desert night, but never really seems like he’s talking to anybody.
The final product feels more experimental than scary. One hour into its short runtime, 2 ghosts meet each other and I started to wonder if I was watching a comedy. There is, however, a ton of atmosphere. Ohs makes the open New Mexico sky seem oppressive at times. But even at less than 80 minutes, “Jethica” pushes the limits of its slow burn. Ohs and his cast appear on the same wavelength, even though I could never grasp what wavelength that was. I get the feeling someone out there will love this odd, dry duck of a movie. It just wasn’t me this time.
Jethica is now streaming on Fandor.
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