After stumbling upon an ancient board in the woods, a woman finds herself haunted by the spirit of a powerful witch. A film by Chuck Russell, starring Madison Iseman, Aaron Dominguez, Melanie Jarnson, Charlie Tahan, Antonia Desplat, David La Haye, Elisha Herbert, Renee Herbert, and Jamie Campbell Bower.

Lorraine province, France, 1693. A coven of witches led by circles a blazing bonfire, performing a ritual dance while Bishop Grogan (David La Haye) is tied to a nearby tree trunk.

Coven leader Naga Soth (Antonia Desplat) seeks vengeance against the bishop who once attacked her, condemned her as a witch, and banished her from the village. As she chants an ancient incantation, she holds a pendulum crafted from human bone over a wooden board. The pendulum begins to sway by itself, drawn toward the carved hand symbol below.

As a witch raises an axe to sever Grogan’s hand, she’s shot dead. The coven panics and scatters when soldiers storm in to rescue the bishop. Several witches fall to gunfire and flames during the chaotic raid.

Determined to complete the ritual, Naga Soth lunges for the fallen axe but a soldier takes aim and fires, narrowly missing her. She tries to escape with the board, but another soldier tackles her before Grogan strikes her unconscious.

Present day. Thieves Booker (Kent McQuaid) and Lebarge (Shawn Baichoo) break into the New Orleans Museum of Natural History targeting an ancient Witchboard. The alarm system activates, sending Lebarge into a panic while Booker stays focused, reminding his partner they still have time.

Distracted by glittering artifacts in a nearby case, Lebarge suggests they take them too. Booker cuts him off, insisting the deal is to take only the board. Defying orders, Lebarge smashes the glass and seizes a golden chalice. Booker draws his gun on Lebarge, demanding he put the chalice back. Lebarge reluctantly complies, but when Booker lowers his guard, Lebarge blindsides him with a crowbar and grabs the bag containing the Witchboard.

Booker fires at Lebarge, wounding him. Furious and bleeding, Lebarge delivers a vicious blow to Booker’s head before limping away with both the Witchboard and the stolen chalice. On his way out, Lebarge shoots two security guards dead and flees ahead of the arriving police.

The next day, Emily (Madison Iseman) goes mushroom hunting in the woods for ingredients for the restaurant she and her fiancé Christian (Aaron Dominguez) are opening with their friends Jackie (Riley Russell) Zack (Jamal Azémar), Richie (Charlie Tahan), and Sierra (Victoria Rose Grosselfuenger), who have all invested in the venture together.

Drawn by Naga Soth’s spirit deeper into the forest, Emily stumbles upon a patch of strange red mushrooms. A cat suddenly drops from the trees, startling her. (The cat bears an uncanny resemblance to the one Naga Soth held in 1693, presumably the same cat, though how it could survive for centuries remains unexplained.) Curious, Emily trails the mysterious cat until it leads her to a discarded sack containing the stolen Witchboard.

Intrigued, Emily shows the board to Christian. Thinking it’s an antique, she suggests it would make a perfect decoration for their restaurant. Christian likes the idea and slips the board into his messenger bag. As they head back to rejoin their friends, neither notices Lebarge’s corpse lying beneath a nearby tree.

Meanwhile, at the Baptiste estate, Booker meets his employer Alexander Baptiste (Jamie Campbell Bower), who had hired him to steal the Witchboard from the museum. Booker blames Alexander for the botched job, arguing that insisting on Lebarge as a partner nearly cost him his life. However, Booker offers to ask around about the board in case Lebarge tried to sell it.

But Alexander has no interest in Booker’s offer. He signals the Asha sisters, a trio of white witch servants (Renee Herbert, Elisha Herbert, and Chiara Fossati), to bind Booker’s hands and execute him with a dagger across the throat. Alexander uses the fresh blood to power a ritual that will allow his pendulum to locate the missing Witchboard.

At Christian and Emily’s apartment above their future restaurant, they host a dinner party for their friends, showcasing Creole cuisine that blends African, French, Caribbean, and Spanish flavors. Christian greets the guests warmly, mentioning that they’re still fine-tuning the menu and encouraging everyone to share their honest opinions about the dishes.

Both Emily and Christian are surprised when Christian’s ex-girlfriend Brooke (Melanie Jarnson) unexpectedly shows up at the party. Richie admits that he invited her since Brooke has become single, hoping that he might have a shot with her. When asked about Malta, which she has recently returned from, Brooke boasts that she was invited to join an archaeological research group funded by a grant from the Vatican. She also mentions that her current thesis focuses on Shamanistic traditions.

Since Brooke is an antiquities expert, Emily shows her the mystery board she found in the woods, hoping Brooke might know what it actually is. Brooke becomes intrigued when she sees the board. She identifies it as a pendulum board, traditionally used for spell casting and spirit communication. Running her fingers over the carved symbols, Brooke notes they appear to be pagan in origin, possibly Wiccan, and estimates the board’s age at over a century, predating even the famous Ouija boards. Brooke explains how the board works: suspend a personally meaningful object over the board using a chain or string, hold your hand as steady as possible, and let the board do the work.

Directed by Chuck Russell from a screenplay he co-wrote with Greg McKay, WITCHBOARD is a supernatural horror film about a recovering drug addict who stumbles upon an ancient pendulum board in the woods. As she begins experiencing vivid, recurring nightmares, she can’t tell if she’s hallucinating due to her past addiction or if she’s truly being haunted by a malevolent spirit. The story is inspired by Kevin Tenney’s 1986 film of the same name.

The pendulum board has its origins rooted in ancient spiritual and divination practices. Ancient Egyptian priests used pendulums as tools to seek answers from their gods, employing weighted objects on strings or chains for guidance. This practice of using pendulums appears in various cultures, including Celtic druids and Roman fortune tellers, each developing unique methods of interpreting pendulum movements. Historically, pendulums themselves have a long scientific and mystical history, studied seriously by figures such as Galileo and Huygens for their physical properties, but their use as divination tools predates these scientific inquiries. The pendulum board as a tool combines this ancient use of pendulums with structured markings like letters or symbols to facilitate clearer answers during spiritual or psychic readings. It’s primarily seen as a personal tool for spiritual communication, differing from tools like the Ouija board which are often used socially.

First of all, I really like the pendulum board’s design. It feels authentic, like a genuine ancient artifact, which is a welcome upgrade from the Ouija board in the original film that resembled a toy.

The cast delivers strong performances across the board. Madison Iseman shines as protagonist Emily, while Aaron Dominguez effectively portrays chef Christian, Emily’s boyfriend. Antonia Desplat brings menace to witch Naga Soth, and Charlie Tahan provides solid support as Richie. Particularly noteworthy are Jamie Campbell Bower as Alexander Baptiste and Melanie Jarnson as Christian’s ex-girlfriend Brook.

Despite its attractive cast and promising premise, the narrative fails to deliver. The story constantly jumps between present and past timelines while relying on ineffective jump scares. At times, it resembles a Final Destination sequence with its convoluted Rube Goldberg-style chain reactions.

It’s disappointing that WITCHBOARD wastes its potential. The film has all the right elements for a horror-comedy in the vein of Sam Raimi’s DRAG ME TO HELL, which could have made it memorable or even iconic. Instead, the director opts for a serious tone, relying heavily on visceral gore. While the practical effects work well and feel authentic, the CGI elements are noticeably unconvincing.

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WITCHBOARD premiered at Fantasia International Film Festival on 26 July 2024. The film was theatrically released in the United States on 15 August 2025.