Hood Witch – Movie Review (4/5)

HOOD WITCH is a new survival thriller from France (org. title: Roqya). It surprises, makes you uncomfortable, and keeps you engaged. Golshifteh Farahani stars in the title role and is breathtaking. Read our full Hood Witch movie review here!

HOOD WITCH is a new survival thriller out in theaters and on digital. The story deals with both the role of religion and traditional (alternative) practices that can be labeled as good or bad. If this sounds too “deep” or boring, then I assure you, it is not.

Especially as this is then coupled with the impact of social media and how quickly you can be the subject of an actual witch hunt. In this movie, the main character may be living in the “hood” of present-day Paris, but when she is called a witch, the people chasing her are primeval in method.

Continue reading our Hood Witch movie review below. Find it in Theaters and on VOD from March 21, 2025.

A wild opening scene

While the opening scene of Hood Witch may seem simple, I assure you it will quickly develop into something quite unexpected. Our main character, Nour (Golshifteh Farahani), makes a living from smuggling exotic animals and other illicit products.

Her reason for doing this is that her clients are what many would call witches. Basically, they are people who use animals and plants from nature to create spells and potions. Nour herself is no stranger to the odd little potion either, but that isn’t her business plan.

She’s aiming much higher as her goal is to get her son out of the city (specifically the ghetto-like area of Paris, where they live) to offer him a better future. She has designed an app meant to connect clients with spiritual healers in their area.

What’s the difference between a witch and a preacher?

Nour’s app is an instant success in this world, where people don’t trust modern medicine or can find no cure for their ailments. Unfortunately, the success will end abruptly when someone dies and Nour is blamed and labeled a witch.

Via the very same social media that made her app a success, she is now in the middle of a sh*t storm and hunted all over Paris. Those shouting the loudest about hunting and killing the witch, are those who claim to be religious.

All while they attack Nour for being a witch, they seek various “treatments” from preachers in their own religion. Hood Witch does an excellent job of highlighting that there really is no difference. Whether you invoke the God of your religion or Mother Nature, the methods are eerily similar.

Of course, those hunting Nour see it differently. And Nour herself is one tough mamma. She will do whatever it takes to protect her son and herself. In that order, mind you.

Golshifteh Farahani is unforgettable as Nour

For the story of Hood Witch to work, the title character must come across as believable and (preferably) likable. At the very least, relatable. In the capable embodiment of Golshifteh Farahani, Nour is a character who manages all three.

In a movie that ends up being a cautionary tale about social media pitfalls paired with religious extremism and an unregulated black market, you need an actor who can carry these heavy themes and still be “just” a human being trying to get by. She does all that and more.

In short, Golshifteh Farahani is breathtaking as Nour. When you watch Hood Witch, you’ll probably find her face recognizable even if her name doesn’t ring a bell. Yet!

You may have seen Golshifteh Farahani in the Apple TV+ series Invasion, the Netflix movies Extraction 1 and 2, or the brilliant French zombie movie The Night Eat the World. Also, she was in the amazing psychological thriller About Elly and the 2019 dramedy Arab Blues. She does it all.

Watch Hood Witch on VOD or in select theaters now

The director of Hood Witch is Saïd Belktibia. He also wrote the screenplay with Louis Penicaut. In fact, the filmmaker dedicated the movie to his mother and it hits close to home in certain ways. Saïd Belktibia was raised by his single mother who practiced witchcraft in her apartment just like Nour.

This French movie (org. title: Roqya) originally premiered at MOTELX, the Lisbon International Horror Film Festival in Portugal in September of 2023. From there, it went on to screen at the iconic Spanish genre film festival Sitges and then SXSW in March of 2024.

Having screened at these amazing genre film festivals since the Fall of 2023, you can now finally watch it as well. And you definitely should! Sure, it will make you uncomfortable and it gets insanely scary, but you cannot look away. Even if you want to, you shouldn’t.

Hood Witch is in select theaters and on digital from March 21, 2025.

Details

Director: Saïd Belktibia
Writers: Saïd Belktibia, Louis Penicaut
Cast: Golshifteh Farahani, Amine Zariouhi, Denis Lavant, Alexis Manenti, Karim Belkhadra, Issaka Sawadogo