We’re in a Dutch village somewhere in the medieval times, in what looks to be the darkest of the darkest ages, in a strongly religious community. A young woman named Frieda (Anneke Sluiters) fears that she may be barren. She and her husband have been trying to have a child for some time, but once again she awakens to find blood between her legs from her regular period. Devastated, and with nothing but scorn from her a-hole husband, she has very few people to turn to as this religious community have a very strong belief that giving birth to children is “all a woman is good for“. Erika Kirk and her ilk would have loved this place.
Frieda, in desperation, tries a ritual she has been suggested to perform which places her at the edge of the forest nearby the village. The community leader has strictly forbidden anyone to enter that forest, because out there be monsters, or something like that. Like the village doesn’t have more than enough of its own monsters. Speaking of, Frieda gets interrupted by a man from the village who also earlier threatened her, and the only thing she can think of in her panic is escaping into the forest to get away from him. There, she gets saved by something ancient and mysterious that means her no harm, but certainly shows no mercy towards Frieda’s aggressor. Good! Her problems in the village are getting worse, though, as they believe she must be possessed since she came out of the forest alive. And when they find what’s left of the man who attacked her, poor Frieda finds herself all alone in a village that proves to be considerably more evil than whatever dwells in the forest.
Heresy is a Dutch folk horror film from 2024, written by Marc S. Nollkaemper and directed by Didier Konings in his feature film debut. The original title of the film is Witte Wieven, which actually translates to White Woman (also often translated to Wise Woman) which is from Dutch and Germanic folklore. The White Women were creatures living in the moors, some kind of female healers and witches who were very wise, often depicted as very pale and ghostly female spirits.
The runtime of only 60 minutes gives the story a rather fast pace despite also being an obvious slowburner that focuses heavily on mood and atmosphere. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, with a gloomy and misty look and the beautiful nature shots. More than a few times the film felt almost like a trip, very psychedelic during some of the scenes. Granted, I haven’t actually tried any magic mushrooms, but I imagine that the witchy forest-scene might be something akin to what it might feel like.
The atmosphere is often very reminiscent of the dark and foreboding vibe you can find in a Robert Eggers film. If you liked The Witch you will probably also love this one. And as beautiful as the movie is, it also doesn’t hold back on some really gruesome gore elements, especially the scene with the fate of Frieda’s attacker. Holy cow, that was something! And yes, the effects here are pretty kick-ass, with some very vicious gore scenes and also some nice creature effects. While the story does focus on something supernatural from the forest, which indeed can cause great harm, you easily understand that this isn’t the biggest threat here. The worst kind of evil is the one committed by humans. A tale as old as time, for sure.
Heresy is a very strong folk-horror film that really packs a wallop with the striking visuals and gnarly special effects. I certainly hope to see more of this director’s works!
Director: Didier Konings
Writer: Marc S. Nollkaemper
Original title: Witte Wieven
Country & year: Netherlands, 2024
Actors: Anneke Sluiters, Len Leo Vincent, Reinout Bussemaker, Nola Elvis Kemper, Marc Eikelenboom, Nina Fokker, Sam Post, Vincent van den Broek
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27524853/
