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Many years ago, Maria (Susanne Jensen) had been a raging alcoholic, and
she had already been at the brink of dead when she met her future husband
who introduced her to religion. Together they moved to a small dairy farm
high up in the mountain and more or less lived off the land. Now the
husband has long died, but before his death they've had a son together,
Johannes (Franz Rogowski), who's now of adult age, but of a very childlike
mind, with very limited vocabulary, and his mind filled with his mother's
weird religious beliefs. Over the years, the duo has developed a very
weird outsider lifestyle, but then again neither mother nor son hurt
anyone, and they're one with nature - including the many birds that roam
the region, from hawk to eagle owl. And then, Maria starts to receive
calls urging her to sell her land as some entrepreneurs want to repurpose
the mountains as a skiing resort. Maria refuses to sell, but workers start
to fell the trees in the nearby woods nevertheless. And then drones show
up regularly on their premises to spy them out, and while mum knows
they're to intimidate them, Johannes believes they are creatures from
hell, also because he has seen them emerge from nearby caves he considers
a gate to hell. Some days later a helicopter lands and a bunch of thugs
apprehend Josef, then fill Maria up with alcohol and force her to sign her
land over. Maria doesn't take well to the alcohol, nor to the fact that
the brutes have destroyed her generator and smashed all the windows of her
house. And seeing his mother in the state he's at, Josef thinks she needs
an exorcism ... The first thing that's noticable about this
movie is how much genuine empathy it shows for its two protagonists, who
surely live a life not only outside the norms but to a degree also outside
of common sense - but they do feel as benign and as relatable as can be.
The second thing that's noticable, remarkable even, is how well it packs
its eco-friendly message into its story. Sure, the message might be
delivered bluntly, but still is an integral part of the story rather than
the reason for the story, and comes across as palpable and real rather
than delivered with a sledgehammer. Actually, genre-wise the film's much
closer to horror than message movie, also thanks to the weird mythology
the film's developing throughout that's as fascinating as it is original,
and it's carried by a rich and almost archaic imagery.
And the two leads certainly give their all in their roles, just helping to
make this one unique experience.
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