- Release year: 2024
- Director: Didier Konings.
- Producers: Pita de Leeuw and Monique van Kessel.
- Screenplay by: Marc S. Nollkaemper.
- Cinematography by: Lukk de Kok.
- Music by: Sebastien Romero.
Synopsis: in a mediaeval Dutch village, a woman with issues conceiving is constantly undermined until she finds her own power outside of her society’s constraints.
Shotgun Commentary: one of the most satisfying good-for-her films of the last few years.
Review
Heresy (original Dutch title: Witte Wieven) is a folk horror film that enjoys getting on your nerves beginning to end. Granted, the stress-inducing narrative does lead to one of the most satisfying endings in the subgenre, but still… Watch with plenty of patience; it knows where to hit.
The story follows Frieda (Anneke Sluiters), a woman who lives in a mediaeval Dutch village and can’t seem to be able to conceive children. You guessed it, she is considered useless. And you guessed again! Her husband refuses to even consider he might be the infertile one. Still, Frieda puts up with a massive amount of male stupidity and violence for the sake of… the sake, until she can’t take it anymore.
The lore
Its original title, Witte Wieven, can be translated as “white women”. These are not your average white women but women in white straight from Dutch folklore. They can be considered fairies, ghosts, or spirits. They usually show up in the mist as they dwell in burial mounds or swamps—or a forest, in this film—and they present a dual nature. On the one hand, they can be healers and helpers. On the other, vengeful and dangerous beings who trap travellers in an eternal fog.
Knowing this, it is a lot easier to understand the journey that Frieda goes through. However, as a viewer who saw the film before doing my research, I can attest that the message is clear regardless. The only difference is that you might see “the white woman” as more of a personification of mother nature or some other natural entity traditionally associated with women and the cycle of life and death.
On the topic of witches
The appearances of the woman in white come in the form of dreamlike experiences that Frieda is subjected to, not unlike Thomasin in The VVitch (2015). Both protagonists are remarkably similar in terms of their context and suffering, yet Frieda’s story is significantly more compelling. This is likely due to the in-depth exploration of womanhood presented in this film.
The topic of witches, although grazed over, is not actually mentioned as such. This not only permits the movie to focus a lot more on the natural state of being a woman without much emphasis on the supernatural; it also allows a more historically accurate view of the era, one in which bringing up the topic of witchcraft as such was not as carelessly done as tonnes of horror films might suggest.
Men at work
Of course, this story would not be possible with some good old-fashioned sexism ruining the party. The award for most loathsome, downright punchable character in the history of cinema is one that has always had pretty fierce competition. Still, one would not be crazy to say that Frieda’s husband Hikko (Len Leo Vincent) would definitely make a conservative top 50, top 10 if we get overexcited. He does everything one can do to be the absolute worst person in the world, and yet he still manages to send a cold chill down your back when you realise that too many of his behaviours are not that strange by today’s standards.
All in all, Heresy is not just a good-for-her horror tale; it is a burning roar of wrath. The only thing that makes this absolute masterpiece even better is the fact that it also acts as a reminder that yes, there are male filmmakers capable of telling a woman’s story without completely botching it up. If you like folklore horror, or great cinema in general, you cannot miss this feature for anything. Now easier to watch than ever, as it is currently streaming on Shudder and AMC+.
Advice to take from this movie:
- Sometimes you just need to commune with nature and get away from toxic men.
- Murder is completely justified in some cases.
- It is perfectly okay to tell off an a-hole… Safely, that is.
What’s your take? Have you watched Heresy? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message on my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀