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Movies like The Magic Circle (2023)

Reminiscent of the ‘trance films’ of Maya Deren or Kenneth Anger, The Magic Circle unfolds in a timeless dusk where an archetypal sorceress ritualistically navigates magical circles. A double figure executing doubled gestures, the circles she engages with are also double: the protective circle of sand or fire surrounding the enchantress and the circle of the self-reflected through circular mirrors. Within the Magic Circle is the self, a place of fragile refuge that is also a nightfall where she constantly encounters and passes through herself. This unsettling and melancholy meditation is at once ornate and minimal, displaying Pour Hosseini’s mastery of light and composition to haunting effect.