FANTASTIC FEST REVIEW: WITTE WIEVEN

Frieda’s greatest wish is to have a child, but she hasn’t been able to conceive. The men in charge have a theory about a woman who is unable to become pregnant – she’s obviously cursed, and she’s probably been talking to dark forces hidden in the woods. A strict regimen of prayer is “prescribed” for her, her husband pulls away at her suggestion that he might be the problem, and the townspeople start regarding her as a problem. When another man in the village takes all of this as a sign to forcibly “give her what she needs,” she runs into the woods to escape him and is saved from a violent death by a mysterious creature. 

Upon returning to the village, she is shunned by the entire community because no woman has ever returned from the woods alive. Once again forced to recite prayers and be told over and over she’s not a good enough woman, Frieda starts communicating with the dark force that rescued her – seeing it as her only way out of the daily torture and abuse. 

Even though this is set in medieval times, it’s the same old story: a bunch of white men abusing their power and treating women like objects, citing scripture as if that makes their behavior justifiable. See also: I never ever want to hear or see a “punishment cage” ever again. Every frame of Director Didier Konings film is achingly beautiful, even when the horror of toxic men is on display. A short, but impactful film that introduced me to Dutch folklore I hadn’t heard before, with a very satisfying ending. 

WITTE WIEVEN screened together with BINARY as part of Fantastic Fest’s Koolhoven Presenteert Program, which showcases films by talented, upcoming Dutch genre film directors.