This is the rawest, weirdest, most realistic witch movie you will ever see

Horror is a multifaceted genre. Sometimes we can end equally fascinated and disgusted by a film (think Midsummer or The substance). This is the case with the Austrian film from 2017 Hagazussa: A Gentile’s Curse, Luke Feigelfeldis his feature film debut before his work as a dialogue consultant The zone of interest. Located in a remote mountain village in the 15th century, Hagazuzsa follows a young goat breeder, Albrun (Celina Peter) and her mother (Claudia Martini), who are treated as outsiders by the villagers and called witches. Albrun’s mother contracts the plague and dies soon after, but Albrun continues to live in her mother’s house and takes care of the goats along with her newborn into adulthood. But things spiral out of control when adult Albrun (Aleksandra Cwen) receives her mother’s skull from the village priest.

“Hagazussa” depicts the horrors of social isolation

The horror in Hagazuzsa is not supernatural, but deeply rooted in human fears. At the beginning of the film, Albrun and her mother are in their house when masked villagers with torches surround the hut, shouting that they are witches and should be burned. Already, Feigelfeld portrays Albrun and her mother as outcasts who endured mistreatment and isolation from their community. When Albrun grew up, the persecution didn’t stop. She befriends a woman named Swinda (Tanya Petrowski), but since Swinda believes Albrun to be a witch, she turns completely against her and introduces her to a man who then sexually attacks her with Swinda’s help. It’s a universal pain that viewers can relate to as they watch Albrun realize she’s part of a cruel joke, as she experiences a pretty extreme case of bullying and harassment fueled by hate and fear.

Albrun experiences the unimaginable and therefore decides to defend himself. The film follows the process in which Albrun initially attempts to assimilate, but then, as her isolation from others and traumatic memories drive her mad, she reaches her full potential as a witch. She does what she does out of necessity, embracing who she really is and what she has been trying to suppress for years. Despite some of the most disturbing decisions Albrun makes (and there are many), Viewers continue to love her, a result of Aleksandra Cwen’s outstanding acting and Feigelfeld’s sensitive script. How pearl And Carrie, Hagazuzsa is the kind of movie that we can’t help but say, “Good for them” when it’s over.

Lukas Feigelfeld combines beauty and terror in “Hagazussa”

Hagazuzsa is a stunning, wild watch. What makes this film so unique lies in its style It brings horribly hideous detail into a pristine and exceedingly beautiful setting. In the film, animals and nature are a source of both beauty and disgust. In an early scene, Albrun finds a rotting deer skull in the snow. In another case, she takes psychedelic mushrooms. As she stumbles, she sees both the beauty of geometric patterns in the branches of the trees and hallucinations about her dead mother. All of the film’s horror occurs in a very visceral, physical way, with no supernatural forces present. The forest in this film is alert and calm, a character in itself. The natural world is visually stunning and makes the case for more folk horror films set in the wilderness.

Similar Robert Eggers‘ The witch, Hagazuzsa is strongly rooted in folklore and the harsh, intimidating beauty of the mountains. And similar The substance, You’ll probably end up feeling really sick too, with its creepy images that don’t hold back. It also contains an element of social commentary, show the dark consequences of human cruelty, even the trickle-down effect of misogyny, which unfortunately goes back hundreds of years. This underrated, utterly great film deserves to be included in the ranks of the best European horror films.

Hagazuzsa is available to watch on Prime Video in the US

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