The Noonday Witch (2016)
This one is in Czech, which I believe is a first for me. The language sounds almost lyrical to me. I am going to have to find some more movies in this so I can hear more.
The original title was Polednice or Полдень in Russian or, the more familiar to readers here, Południca in Polish.
Eliska (Anna Geislerová) and her daughter Anetka (Karolína Lipowská) move to her husband's old hometown and buy a farm. Her husband is not with them and Anetka asks when her dad will be joining them, which gets no response from Eliska other than "soon". We learn from the locals that it has been very hot lately and many don't even have water.
Something is obviously up and Eliska does not want to tell Anetka.
The film follows along with the folklore of Lady Midday, but in a modern setting. I also got a solid Babadook vibe from this.
As the movie, and the summer goes on the relationship between mother and daughter gets worse. There is steady-state of mounting terror and anxiety in this that really makes you feel for Eliska, even if you can't tell if she is going crazy or things are crazy around her. This is exemplified by the story that Eliska reads to Anetka every night. It goes from a nice bedtime story to a perfunctory exercise.
We get warnings from the old neighbor that "She" is back. One day while playing in a field with other children the church bell rings out non and all the kids hide, except for Anetka at first.
One of the kids shows Anetka the gravesite of her father to prove he wasn't lying and Eliska gets a letter from the insurance company stating that her claim was denied due to no sign of foul play in his death.
Anna Geislerová and Karolína Lipowská do a really great job here into their descents into their personal hells. In particular Anna Geislerová in her dual role of both the mother Eliska and the witch Lady Midday.
The ending was a bit anti-climatic, but it could have gone so much worse.
I am sticking with my original Babadook comparisons.
October 2021
Viewed: 34
First Time Views: 21
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