‘The Changeover’ review — A well-made gothic YA fantasy

The Changeover is a well-made fantasy YA movie that features a terrifying villainous turn by Timothy Spall.

The Changeover — based on Margaret Mahy’s 1984 novel of the same — is refreshingly a young adult adaptation that doesn’t have aspirations for a franchise. In the vein of Twilight, the movie tells the story of Laura (Erana James), a teen who seems to know when something bad is going to happen before it does. She doesn’t realize it, but this is because she’s a witch.

Portrayed as a low fantasy — meaning that magical events intrude on an otherwise normal world — The Changeover takes place in New Zealand following an earthquake. Laura and her younger brother Jacko (Benji Purchase) are often left to their own devices following the suicide of their father and their mother Kate’s (Melaine Lynskey) rigorous work schedule to support the trio.

One day, walking home from school, Laura loses Jacko just to find him with a creepy man named Braque (Harry Potter’s Timothy Spall). The chance encounter triggers extrasensory perception for danger, but before she can get Jacko out of the shipping crate that Braque uses as an antique shop he places a stamp on the young boy.

In the next days, Jacko begins to develop strange behaviors — speaking in a voice that isn’t his, purposefully burning his hand on the stove — before falling ill and ending up in the hospital. Doctors think they pinpoint the illness, which would require a blood transfusion if either Laura or her mother is a suitable donor.

However, Laura knows something more supernatural is afoot. So, she turns to the mysterious school hunk Sorensen Carlisle (Nicholas Galitzine) — your Edward Cullen-esque lover interest — for help. He reveals that he is part of a coven of witches and that Braque is a magical parasite that is feeding on Jacko’s lifeforce through the stamp to obtain eternal life. He knows how to save Jacko, but it would require Laura to undergo the dangerous process of “The Changeover,” which is a ritual that gives her her full powers as a witch.

The Changeover is coming late in the lifespan of teen fantasy romances that saw commercial successes like Twilight and Warm Bodies and flops like Beastly and Red Riding Hood. However, it still is a refreshing exercise in the genre. Not only is it well-directed by Miranda Harcourt and Stuart McKenzie, but it also features great atmospheric sound design and cinematography.

However, so much of the success has to be credited to Timothy Spall’s skin-crawling performance as the villain of the piece. There is real horror in the movie. Something that Twilight never achieved — despite being about vampires and werewolves — because it was too involved in the central relationship. Where those movies were 75/25 on romance to story, The Changeover is more like 25/75. The biggest issue is that when the relationship is muscled in it feels out of place and awkward.

The movie soars when it is a gothic horror fantasy filled with tension and dread. Thankfully it’s that for most of the running time. Sometimes it takes a detour through teen fantasy soap territory — music montages and declarations of love and all — but not enough to derail the movie.

At a lean 92 minutes, it’s hard not to recommend giving The Changeover a watch. It doesn’t always work, but when it does it’s magical.

The Changeover will be in theaters and on demand on February 22nd.