Rarely do I ever find myself watching a film with as much heart, character development, and honesty as with Govran Stolevski’s You Won’t Be Alone. The horror film follows a curious young witch as she sets out on her own to learn more about life as a human. Acting as her own anthropologist, the witch uses her ability to transform herself into other people and animals as a gateway to discover the true meaning of happiness.

You may have seen the trailer for You Won’t Be Alone this past week if you went to see Scream in theatres, which is where I first saw it. Admittedly, the trailer is nothing like what the movie is, but in the best possible way.

Stolevski was relieved by this notion, stating, “You should have seen the original trailer. It was in English with an Evanescence song over it.”

After we both mutually expressed our love for the early two-thousands rock band, we also agreed the new trailer played more into the theme of the film.

“I tend to write about difficult women”, says Stolevski. “All of my previous works are character dramas. I did a ton of research about witches including folktales and historic documents. I tried to understand why they were telling the stories they were telling. As for witchcraft, we’ve always been told about them through a western lens, so I wanted to look outside of that. The voice of the characters came very easily after that. Once I had the inner voice and basic premise, it became this.”

Speaking of the characters, who are all very grounded and layered in this piece, it’s the older witch in particular that will have the largest effect on audiences. On the surface, a miserable old hag seeking to cast darkness over the world, but underneath a devastatingly sad soul looking for peace.

“I feel very connected to her," admits Stolevski. “She made me cry the hardest on set. Just in terms of the world and how they treat you, she’s obviously still an antagonist, but you just want to understand why she is the way she is. A person who tries to do the right thing and is met with obstacles. Hit over the head over and over again — that takes a toll. It takes incredible strength to survive and retain some positivity and joy in your life, but if you don’t, that doesn’t make you a bad person. It just means the world is a bit f*cked. These two characters are really me split in two.”

From script to screen, the initial vision of the story was able to be preserved as Stolevski made the switch from writer to director.

“The film is quite close to what even was in the treatment stage. We didn't do that much development. As people came on board, you just try to build on the energies you have. There is some improv, but the core of it, the structure is the same as it was in draft one," he says.

During the creation of the script, Stolevski was unemployed and desperate to create.

“I just hit thirty and would introduce myself as a trophy wife. My husband was working. It’s almost better to say you're unemployed than an aspiring artist. This script was my happy place to survive. During COVID last year it wasn’t easy for me to write. I realized I needed simulation; I needed to be around other people and then that stimulates the blood flow. I was stuck at home for almost six months and did no writing, but this script was so far removed from my day-to-day reality, it was quite easy to put it together in that sense.”

In a charming surprise, Stolevski gave a first-time answer to our usual wrap-up question, “What advice would you give your younger writer self?”

“To be honest, the kind person in me would say everything will work out, but the anxiety of maybe it won’t is what kept me going. I’ve written twelve features now and it comes from the emotional place of what’s going to happen now? I almost feel like I wouldn’t give my younger self any advice,” he says laughing.

Focus Features will release You Won't Be Alone in theaters on April 1, 2022, after its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this month.