Dir. Didier Konings (2024)
A young woman's only desire is to get pregnant,
Every time I see a movie like this, I am infinitely grateful that I live in the 21st century. Regardless of what the film is about, regardless of how technically impressive or well crafted it may be, my main takeaway is always that living in the Middle Ages would have fucking sucked. Director Didier Konings' new film Heresy is another prime example, transporting audiences into a religious Dutch village during the period while still managing to craft an unfortunately still socially relevant film for the modern age. Themes of autonomy, control, and religion permeate a film that is one of the beter crafted films I've seen from Fantastic Fest this year.
Frieda (Anneke Sluiters) only wants to become pregnant, trying every trick that Medieval medicine and early Christianity has to make it so. When a man from the town tries to "help" her by raping her in the woods, a strange beastly creature fights him off and allows Frieda to return to the village. The woods are supposed to be cursed, however, and she finds the townsfolk immediately distrustful of her as the only person to ever return from the woods alive. As Frieda soon learns, and as Garth Brooks tells us, some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.
Heresy has some exceptional cinematography by Luuk de Kok, and its a truly beautifully shot film that feels much more like an A-plus Hollywood movie than an indie film. An excellent and powerful performance from Sluiters in the lead role helps drive the film, and terrifying effects work along with some admirable restraint from Konings brings it home. It's a slow mover, but that's practically a requirement for a film like this. It's dark, moody, and feels like an indie version of The VVitch with some more chillingly scary scenes to break up the sleepy plot.
Heresy is all about female empowerment in an age where that wasn't even a thing. The parallels to the modern struggle for reproductive rights, domestic violence, and autonomy are clear and well done, making the film socially relevant and impressively impactful for a period piece. Women are now and have always been put into an impossible situation, one where they are to blame for any deficiencies, regardless of who is actually at fault, and one in which any attempt to better themselves or their situation is looked at as an attempt to wrest control from those who believe themselves above women.
A slow burn horror that works really well for the story it's trying to tell, Heresy largely avoids becoming too slow by being just an hour long. It's a quick watch, it's got some great scary moments, and the performances are top notch. You can't ask for a whole lot more from an indie horror than that. Director Didier Konings has some serious talent, and I look forward to checking out more from him in the future.
Who this movie is for: Religious horror fans, Period horror movie appreciators, Woods people
Bottom line: Heresy is an excellently done indie horror with some genuinely scary scenes and a few stellar performances. Star Anneke Sluiters does a phenomenal job in her role, and it's a film that is both culturally relevant and powerfully told. While it's unfortunate that films with messages like this still need to be made, it's a damn good way of getting the point across. This is a must see for fans of slow burn horror flicks that don't overstay their welcome.
