Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Pt 2 - Under Kiernan Shipka's Spell (2019) User Reviews

Does not increase my interest in the show

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 20 May 2019]

As long as the title "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Pt 2 - Under Kiernan Shipka's Spell" may be, this film here barely makes it past the one-minute mark. Not much talk in this 2019 film either ans when you hear the lead actress say a few words, it is really only to emphasize what you see. Of course, this is a little promo video for the television series mentioned in the title, a new take on the witch character of Melissa Joan Hart decades ago and tht protagonist is played by Kiernan Shipka here. Well, what can I say, I am a huge fan of her on Mad Men and it's nice to see her having a career now as a lead actress, even if I am not sure if Sabrina, in this much darker version, is the right choice for her. But I will give it a go at some point. I hope it is not as a bad as the likes of True Blood or Vampire (Campire) Diaries. I know I know this is not about vampires, but honestly with the romance story line included in this promo video here, it feels a bit like that. We have Shipka focusing the camera and us, the audience while two men are running around her like chicken basically madly in love with her apparently and she is allowed to pick. These two male actors also appear in the series. I don't know either. So as helpless as they may seem, the focus is all on Sabrina and how dark her soul may be with the black outfit, the only seemingly innocent face expression that quickly disappears when we see the red on her mouth. Is it blood or roses from one of her potential lovers? Well, it sure makes very clear that she is not a sweet innocent girl enjoying the attention. The director is Christian Coppola, otherwise not connected to the Sabrina series, but a distant relative of Oscar winners Francis Ford and Sofia. I read he wants to deliver on his own. We will see how that goes. His effort here did not win me over, but apparently he is still at the very early stages of his career, so we shall see how things turn out. I am under Kiernan Shipka's spell, but not because of this video. Not a failure, but a thumbs-down overall. I still hope Shipka, who turns 20 this year, has a bright career ahead of her and lets be honest, she still (also with the slightly wasted face expression à la Eva Green in Penny Dreadul) elevates the material here. Without her, this could have been really bad honestly.