Falling in love with Anna Biller’s ‘The Love Witch’
The campy, loving homage to the heyday of glorious technicolor relays a vital feminist message.
The Love Witch opens with a beautiful woman driving a red Ford Mustang along a lonely California highway. If we didn’t know better, the blue-eye-shadowed protagonist could be looking into the lens of any number of vintage male filmmakers: Hitchcock, Dario Argento, or George A. Romero. But if you blink, as she does the classic rearview mirror shot, you might miss the fact that her world is not all it seems.
Anna Biller wrote, directed, and very carefully constructed the universe where The Love Witch resides, a place that sits amongst the redwood trees of Northern California deconstructing gender, female sexuality, and glamor throughout its (slightly long) 158 minutes. Using 35mm stock and nearly all traditional filmic techniques, Anna Biller ruled her set like an army drill sergeant, engineering almost everything we see, impressively including costumes, set design, editing, and even music composition.
Production and Auteur Vision
Biller remains writer, director, producer, editor, composer, and designer on new work like The Face of Horror. That consistency underscores the same hands-on control that shaped every frame of The Love Witch. Seven years in the making, the movie follows Elaine, a beautiful young witch on her quest to find the perfect mate. Armed with spells that work just a touch too well and a general disdain for anyone not meeting her exacting standards, she blocks her pathway to true love. While The Love Witch may share stylistic cues with the sexploitation films of the 60s and 70s, it is anything but exploitative in its message.
Feminist Themes and Character Complexity
With the meticulous set design, costume design, and glorious color of the print, the film can come on like a full-blown homage at times. However, the protagonist’s antihero positioning gives the show a modern twist. Elaine, played to perfection by Samantha Robinson, is a pathological narcissist – which can make watching uncomfortable. You find yourself loving and being revolted by the titular character in equal measures. This confusion may be where the film’s core message holds its power, with a skillful deconstruction of the war of the sexes. Biller has described the film as exploring how women negotiate objectification and maintain personhood. When her backstory unfolds, we see Elaine as a survivor, a woman who has been persistently used and abused by men. By understanding that this woman's revenge is also her undoing – and not her redemption (the “love redeems” trope) – we feel sympathetic with her struggle. In several fast-edited sequences, Biller pairs typically feminine iconography with violent visions, opening up conversations about gender norms and the societal expectations of life as a woman. Elaine may look vintage, but her actions and motivations make her a thoroughly modern and complex witch.
Ongoing Revival and Screenings
Recent 35mm presentations with the director and 2026 theatrical runs indicate sustained interest and accessibility beyond initial release. The Academy Museum hosted a 35mm screening with Anna Biller on October 25, 2025. UPP Cinema scheduled a run from May 9-11, 2026. These events keep the original print in circulation and give new audiences a chance to experience the saturated colors and deliberate production design on the big screen.
Biller's Subsequent Projects
The director has moved forward with new feature work, providing career context that enriches understanding of her auteur approach established in The Love Witch. The Face of Horror was announced as a supernatural thriller and ghost story. Filming is slated for 2025 in Prague with a notable cast that includes Jonah Hauer-King, Kristine Froseth, Bella Heathcote, Ellie Bamber, Leo Suter, and Ben Radcliffe. The project continues Biller’s interest in period atmosphere and psychological tension while expanding her range into earlier centuries and different cultural mythologies.
Streaming Accessibility Today
Expanded availability on major platforms makes the film more accessible to contemporary viewers than at original release. As of July 2026 the title streams on Peacock Premium, Philo, Tubi, Pluto TV, and several additional services. Viewers can also rent or purchase it through standard digital storefronts. This wider reach lets the film reach people who missed its limited theatrical run or who discovered it later through word of mouth and festival revivals.
Enduring Cult Status and Analysis
Continued academic and critical discussion validates the film’s thematic depth and visual innovation nearly ten years later. Recent 2025 articles and online communities keep returning to the movie’s feminist themes and retro aesthetics. The sustained praise centers on how Biller balances homage with critique, letting the lush surfaces reveal uncomfortable truths about desire, power, and performance. The deliberate mix of vintage technique and present-day detail still prompts conversation about how cinematic language shapes expectations around gender and romance.
The potent mix of M. David Mullen’s cinematography with Biller’s auteur vision gives us a film that looks almost identical to the vintage influences it plays tribute to. The love potion scenes are straight out of the seminal masterpiece The Trip, while other set pieces could be Giallo, Polanski or even Herschell Gordon Lewis. Biller cites Hitchcock’s Marnie as a direct influence. The editorial decision to include modern cars and props such as cell phones is nothing short of a masterstroke. When we see these visual cues, we’re reminded this is a universe of Anna Biller’s creation, a jarring contrast of our here-and-now and the issues we face everyday.
As the film reaches its climax, a new theme emerges: society’s treatment of outsiders, in particular women. With “witch hunts” now commonplace in online culture, it’s very easy for us to identify with The Love Witch in her final hour of need. Despite her many flaws, we feel sympathy for Elaine’s suffering. When the credits finally roll, it’s wise to remember that The Love Witch only influences her victims. By confronting their emotions, they bring about their own destiny. If we follow Elaine’s example, we too can be a catalyst for change through action. Elaine shows us (a little too enthusiastically at times) that we don’t have to be the victim. By retelling the story, reclaiming the power, and rethinking the situation, we can create a world that works for us – and if we do, wouldn’t Elaine be proud?
