Heresy
It is a historical fact that, for the most part, the women weave, the women cook, the women bear children and raise them while the men make the decisions and the rules, Frieda unable to fulfil her expected role in the small hamlet by the dark forest, married to Hikko but barren, failing to catch and carry his child.
A shame which she bears alone, the blame solely hers, gathering flowers from the forbidden forest she is pursued and attacked by Gelo, only recently released from the punishment cage; she escaping when he is later found mutilated, her account is dismissed, Father Bartholomeus saying she must be in league with the Devil, turning the village against her.
Released in the Netherlands as Witte Wieven, meaning “white women,” pale wraiths of the forest, the connotation from folklore being wise woman or perhaps witches, Heresy is the feature debut of director Didier Konings from a screenplay by Marc S Nollkaemper, a grim period piece of a Medieval village which reeks of smoke, raw meat and sodden earth, the peasants huddled in huts against the cold sleet and things which they have learned to dread.
Paralleling The Witch but more akin to The Devil’s Bath in its setting and rustic style, Anneke Sluiters is Frieda, with Nola Elvis Kemper as Sasha, her only friend, previously targeted by Gelo (Léon van Waas) whose release was commanded by Father Bartholomeus (Reinout Bussemaker), the repeated sins of men forgiven while the failings of women see them cast out, Hikko (Len Leo Vincent) freed to take another woman to continue his line.
The villagers devout Christians despite the rituals they employ to encourage fertility, Frieda’s return from the forest where Gelo was turned into a monstrous living totem of desecration is sufficient to mark her where he is venerated as a martyr, fear of the “white women” who live in the shadows beneath the trees enough to trigger religious fervour.
Running to a compact hour including a digression where Konings returns to his pop video roots in the undergrowth, Heresy is simple and direct but effective, Frieda whipped as instructive punishment and shunned by her people but finding an alternative among the witte wieven where she is replenished, refreshed and reborn, an easy decision for any woman to make, then and now.
Heresy will be streaming on Shudder from Friday 1st May
