The Old Ways

The Old Ways (2021) is an American horror film directed by Christopher Alender — watch it online on iFILM. It's rooted in Mesoamerican folk belief rather than the familiar Catholic exorcism playbook, which is what makes it worth paying attention to.

Cristina (Brigitte Kali), a journalist of Mexican descent, returns to Veracruz to research indigenous healing traditions. She ends up locked in a pit. The villagers who put her there aren't hostile for no reason — they're convinced she came back from the caves carrying something that isn't her. The local curandera (Julia Vera) runs rituals. Cristina's cousin Miranda (Andrea Cortés) tries to translate between the two worlds. Meanwhile Cristina herself has to decide whether she trusts her own rationalist instincts or what her body seems to be doing without her permission.

Alender keeps the scale small and the camera close. No CGI spectacle — the tension comes from the ambiguity, from a film that takes indigenous spirituality seriously as a framework without reducing it to window dressing. Stream The Old Ways (2021) online on iFILM.