A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness
2013| 1h 38m| IMDb 6.2
A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness (2013) is currently streaming in the UK on MUBI. Last updated 20 January 2026.
A SPELL TO WARD OFF THE DARKNESS follows an unnamed character through three seemingly disparate moments in his life. With little explanation, we join him in the midst of a 15-person collective on a small Estonian island; in isolation in the majestic wilderness of Northern Finland; and during a concert as the singer and guitarist of a black metal band in Norway. Marked by loneliness, ecstatic beauty and an optimism of the darkest sort. Starring musician Robert AA Lowe (best known for his intense live performances under the name LICHENS) in the lead role, A SPELL lies somewhere between fiction and non-fiction - it is at once a document of experience and an experience itself, an inquiry into transcendence that sees the cinema as a site for transformation.
Director: Ben Rivers, Ben Russell
Stream
Streaming info last checked: 20 Jan 2026