Heresy — Heresy (VOD)
Heresy (2024) is a Dutch folk horror film directed by Didier Konings, a concept artist whose previous works include Stranger Things, and Thor: Love and Thunder, and written by Marc S. Nollkaemper (The Space Between Us). The film stars Anneke Sluiters (Hotel Poseidon) as Frieda, alongside Len Leo Vincent as her husband Hikko, Léon van Waas (Brimstone) as the butcher Gelo, and Nola Elvis Kemper as Sasha. Set in a medieval Dutch village, it follows a woman ostracised and accused of witchcraft when a dark entity latches onto her infertility. It's drawn comparisons to Eggers' The Witch off the back of a strong festival run. It makes its UK digital debut on 28 September courtesy of GrimmVision.
I’m a bit like I am with books when it comes to the opening of a horror. If the first line grabs me, then I'm in. Heresy does exactly that, opening with ominous Latin chanting and a woman’s chilling scream inside what looks like the stone basement of a medieval hut. It immediately gave me that feeling that something seriously dark was about to unfold.
We're then with Frieda, a young girl lying in bed. She puts her hand between her legs and finds blood, and you can see in her face that she is disappointed. She and her partner Hikko are trying for a baby. She prays for fertility, and we follow her through her daily life, carrying the weight of infertility into everything she does. She asks the father to perform a fertility test, and this sent me down my own little rabbit hole, because in medieval times urine would be mixed with grains and used as a way of testing fertility. Fascinating stuff.
The film only runs for just over an hour, and it works in its favour. Things happen, the story moves along quickly, and the writer does a good job of showing you who the characters are and what they're about early on.
By 18 minutes in, I was fully invested. There's a slightly triggering scene for some, and then the creature arrives, and I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. The way it moves is so convincing that it feels like this was a Hollywood budget, and what it does leaves you questioning whether this being has come with evil or good intentions. Frieda gets back from the woods, and the gore level is a good 8 by now! The strangest things happen, and I was constantly trying to figure out what was going on, but it's shown in such a way that you know it's all drip-fed clues about the final reveal, and I was here for every single second.
The modernisation of the scene around 35 minutes in really shouldn't have worked, but it so, so did. It was visually absolutely stunning. As the story continues, I found myself curling my lip at the men in disgust. They're horrible, horrible people, and the more we see of them, the more you realise that the demons they talk about may actually be living inside them. It's a clever twist on the idea of evil, especially when you consider that the story is rooted in Witte Wieven folklore. I didn't know anything about it going in, but the film weaves it into the story so well that I found myself completely absorbed by it.
And then there's the title. Heresy is a good twist in the tale when you look at the way these men behave. They blindly follow their prayers and everything they believe to be right, while showing very little compassion or understanding for the women around them. Meanwhile, the Witte Wieven were associated with wise women, healers and herbalists. Suddenly, the title takes on another layer entirely! It’s just a stunning piece of Dutch cinema.
The cinematography towards the end is like a gift from God. Atmospheric, a visual masterpiece, a score that fits exactly with the story being told. The acting is beyond incredible; Sluiters’ dark and moody performance of Frieda carries the whole film. The graphics are flawless, and the ability to bring this folk horror to life was done incredibly well. I was in awe the whole time. Horror season is about to be upon us, and I suggest this one would be on your list. One thing Heresy has left me with is a thirst for more folk horror!