South African actor Alice Krige is best known to audiences for her role on Star Trek where she played The Borg Queen, but Krige has been consistently working on-screen since the mid-seventies. Her career has seen her star in a variety of different projects and yet frustratingly, in so many of them she features in more of a supporting role capacity. It’s a massive shame as Krige is an exceptionally talented actor worthy of some really meaty parts. New director Charlotte Colbert knows Krige’s worth as their debut feature film She Will places the actor firmly into the spotlight. In She Will, Krige plays ageing actress Veronica Ghent, who after a double mastectomy attends a healing facility in rural Scotland. Accompanied by her nurse Desi (Kota Eberhardt), with whom she shares a terse relationship, Veronica finds herself experiencing peculiar new capabilities. These lead Veronica to confront past traumas that have lain dormant for decades, and lead her to an unexpected opportunity.
A transformative role for Alice Krige, She Will presents yet further proof that we need to push forward more stories involving actors of a certain age. There is plenty of talent deemed to have aged out by some sections of the industry, which is mad when you see the excellent work these people are capable of. She Will is all about Veronica and Krige’s performance. It’s an incredibly quiet and methodical turn, Krige expressing more about her character with a simple look than most can with a hundred words. Veronica is such a lavish and complicated character that it takes a strong talent to inhabit her and Krige revels in every moment. Kota Eberhardt offers great support, the relationship between both women mellowing and maturing, allowing each to reveal otherwise secret facets of their personality. Veronica is dealing with a ton of trauma, some of which is intrinsically linked to Malcolm McDowell’s character Eric, a man from her past, and the weight of this has stifled her growth as a person. It is only through the environment of the aptly named healing centre that she finally begins to grow and watching her work through this metamorphosis is beautiful to behold.
Although dealing with very different ideas and situations there is something inescapably Saint Maud about the tone of She Will. It’s likely due to both titles having female voices behind them, but also the power that the story has and the hold it creates over the audience. The empowered femininity explored in She Will is handled delicately and carefully, this is not a loud film, but a more reserved portrayal. Colbert opens up a dialogue for female characters who might not typically be given a voice, and analyses what it is to be “female” as well as demonstrating the effects of repressed trauma on the soul, psyche, and body. She Will is careful and attentive to the needs of its lead character, but never alienates the viewer.
She Will
Summary
The slow and deliberately paced psychological thriller is on the rise and She Will stands as a shining example of how to do it well and is a testament to the talent of Alice Krige.
She Will was reviewed at Fantastic Fest 2021.
