Coven of Sisters – Netflix Review (4/5)

COVEN OF SISTERS is a Netflix movie from Spain (org. title Akelarre) that shows the very real horrors of the Spanish inquisition. Skip that awful new Neil Marshall movie and go straight to this one instead if you want the real story. Read our full Coven of Sisters movie review here!

COVEN OF SISTERS is a new Netflix movie about the brutal and real horror of the witch hunt in Spain. Set in 1609, this covers a dark period where the Spanish inquisition took the lives of many – and left scars with even more.

If you look for the movie on IMDb, you should try the original Spanish title Akelarre or simply Coven since this is another title it has been known by. Whatever the title, this one is definitely worth checking out and even the runtime of 90 minutes is spot-on.

Continue reading our Coven of Sisters movie review below and find it on Netflix now.

This is the witch hunt movie to watch!

Acclaimed horror director Neil Marshall recently released his movie about a witch hunt (set in England) and it was a mess for many different reasons. Mostly due to the fact that it was glorified torture porn set up solely to make the star look good (literally, in full make-up and perfect eyebrows). In fact, I wish I could forget it altogether since I’ve been very fond of this director.

Don’t miss: Our review of Neil Marshall’s The Reckoning here to be warned >

Coven of Sisters is an entirely different creature, where the focus is on depicting a real take on the real-life events of the witch hunt during the Spanish inquisition. Remember, this was back when a “witch hunt” actually referred to women being accused of being witches and killed for it. Not just politicians claiming the term whenever their actions were questioned! 

Also, everyone is filthy and has body hair. This is set in 1609 and the only reason to remove body hair would be due to hygiene (such as lice) or possible to look for the mark of the devil. As you’ll see in Coven of Sisters. Yes, this new movie is realistic in all the right (and awful) ways! 

Many new – and amazing – talents!

Most of the young women accused of being witches are new to acting but you definitely would not think so. They have to go through quite a few brutal scenes. And yet, they never come across as being in the “torture porn” category. In fact, we never see the most brutal actions towards these young women.

We do, however, see the aftermath of the torture that has taken place!

The main protagonist, Ana, is portrayed by Amaia Aberasturi who has actually worked in both movies and TV series before. It’s a big role to take on, but she delivers in every way! Maider, one of the other girls accused of being a witch is portrayed by Jone Laspiur.

She reminded me a lot of Tallulah Willis, which made her seem familiar. I haven’t actually seen her in anything before though. Jone Laspiur did, however, just win the “Best New Actress”-Goya (the Spanish Oscar) for her title role in Ane (2020). Her co-star in this movie, Amaia Abesturi, was nominated in the “Best Actress”-category as well.

In other words, you’ll probably want to remember both their names. We’ll be seeing a lot more of these young talents!

As the man in charge of interrogating the young women accused of witchcraft, you’ll see Alex Brendemühl who delivers another solid performance. If you’ve watched the Netflix movie Twin Murders: The Silence of the White City, then Alex Brendemühl should be familiar to you.

Watch Coven of Sisters on Netflix now!

Pablo Agüero is the director and co-writer of Coven of Sisters and I found myself very impressed with his work on this movie. Both in terms of the style, performances, and overall production quality, this movie is well worth your time. Pablo Agüero has been directing (and writing) movies for more than a decade, and puts all his experience to good use here!

And then there’s the story itself, which makes it all work. The screenplay was written with Katell Guillou who “only” has a handful of short films prior to this movie. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a feature film career because everything worked really well with this one.

Overall, the movie was nominated for a total of 9 Goya Awards, so I’m not alone in singing its praises. Do check it out on Netflix and get ready for some very uncomfortable scenes. But also a lot of girl power and life-affirming scenes! It’s almost a shame that it wasn’t released on International Women’s Day [March 8] but that would probably have been a bit too on the nose.

Coven of Sisters (org. title Akelarre) is out on Netflix from March 11, 2021.

Details

Director: Pablo Agüero
Writers: Pablo Agüero, Katell Guillou
Stars: Amaia Aberasturi, Alex Brendemühl, Daniel Fanego, Jone Laspiur