Director Didier Konings’ brooding, atmospheric medieval horror film “Heresy (Witte Wieven)” weaves together themes of faith, doubt, and societal oppression, with feminist undercurrents about the darker side of religious patriarchy. At just over an hour long, the film feels tight an intense, making it one of the more unsettling indie horror films I’ve seen in a long time.
Set in a puritanical Dutch village, the film tells the haunting story of Frieda (Anneke Sluiters), a woman ostracized by her community for her inability to conceive a child. She exists in a society where a woman’s worth is reduced to her ability to bear children, which causes Frieda to grow increasingly isolated. Desperate and alone, she begins a journey from devout believer to one who embraces the darker powers of the nearby woods.
The story blends supernatural elements with artsy horror. The pacing is slow, but Konings amplifies the tension by keeping his story small and intimate. The blame and shame Freida faces from her community evokes as much horror as it does sympathy, and it’s a disturbingly relevant exploration of the misogyny that’s ingrained in religious fanaticism.
Konings captures the tension and aggression of the story with an impressive command of visual and auditory storytelling. His use of tightly framed close-ups and dim lighting adds to the film’s claustrophobic intensity. The film is almost too dark at times, but the shadowy cinematography serves to heighten the film’s foreboding mood. The sound design also plays a key role, creating unease through what you can’t see but only hear.
Comparisons to Robert Eggers’ “The VVitch” are inevitable, as both films explore the friction between female autonomy and oppressive societal forces within a historical context. This one stands apart with its distinct Dutch cultural influence and the unique folklore of the “witte wieven” (white women or spirits) that it taps into. Frieda’s transformation from victim to empowered outsider is as terrifying as it is tragic, and her interactions with the supernatural forces of the woods serve as both a warning and a form of liberation.
“Heresy (Witte Wieven)” features a story that demands deeper analysis of its themes of power and religion. This is the type of film for those who appreciate horror with substance.
By: Louisa Moore
Screen Zealots 