The Changeover (film)

Laura Chant has one of her "warnings", a premonition that something is about to happen, but is forced to ignore it and go to school as usual. On the way home, she and her younger brother Jacko encounter the sinister Carmody Braque, who 'playfully' stamps Jacko's hand, the stamp appearing as an image of his face.

As Jacko becomes increasingly ill, Laura believes he has been possessed. She seeks the help of Sorensen "Sorry" Carlisle, recognized by her as a witch in hiding though to others he seems just a painfully well-behaved school prefect who photographs birds as a hobby. She learns that Braque is an ancient being who consumes the life force of others to keep himself alive. Sorry's grandmother Winter, one of a long line of witches, recommends that Laura should "changeover" from her normal life, to become a witch or "woman of the moon" herself. She would then be in a position to trick an unwary Braque into putting himself in her power. Although warned that the changeover can be dangerous, Laura is determined to save her brother, now very near death.

Laura experiences the changeover as a spirit journey through a dark forest in Christchurch, New Zealand. The Carlisle witches help her through it, for their own reasons, and she emerges from the perilous passage with the power of nature and imagination awakened in her.

Taking Sorensen along to mask her new power, Laura confronts Braque and succeeds in gaining power over him and breaking his hold on Jacko. At first intending to make the evil entity suffer, she rejects the dark temptation and instead ends his unnatural existence.

• Timothy Spall as Carmody Braque/David
• Melanie Lynskey as Kate Chant
• Lucy Lawless as Miryam Carlisle
• Nicholas Galitzine as Sorensen Carlisle
• Erana James as Laura Chant
• Kate Harcourt as Winter Carlisle
• Thomasin McKenzie as Rose Keaton
• Ella Edward as Nicky Green
• Benji Purchase as Jacko Chant
• Claire van Beek as police woman

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 70% based on 33 critics, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The site's consensus reads: "The Changeover may not bite deep enough for more seasoned horror fans, but it's spooky enough for its younger target demographic".[1] On Metacritic, The Changeover holds a rank of 69 out of a 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[2]

Scott Tobias of NPR wrote "The Changeover is one of those supernatural thrillers where the rules are both abstract and arbitrary, rendering Laura's internal struggle as dull predestination rather than an act of intention and will".[3]

According to John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter, "Uniformly solid performances and artful camera/sound work make the film hard to dismiss out of hand, but the script doesn't sell its hokum as effectively as more mainstream supernatural soap operas".[4]

Keith Watson of Slant Magazine was more positive about the film. His reaction was "If, in the end, the film's narrative fails to cohere, the journey getting there is at least enjoyably swift-paced".[5] Matt Zoller Seitz, an editor for RogerEbert.com called the film "a perfect genre film".[6]

Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times has praised the film for its "fine performances and a narrative that doesn't hang about to admire itself",[7] while Noel Murray of the Los Angeles Times called it "an astute adaptation, balancing magical arcana with everyday adolescent turmoil".[8]

Graeme Tuckett of the New Zealand news website Stuff called The Changeover "[a] locally made Stephen King–style story", which contains "strong female leads and a perfectly judged ending".[9]

• The Changeover at IMDb