A woman’s return to her childhood villages leads to very arousing suspicions in this folk horror from director Tereza Nvotová.

As a child, Şarlota suffered a very terrible childhood due to her abusive mother. When she and her sister attempted to escape her mother through the woods, her sister disappears and Şarlota leaves town without ever finding her. Twenty years later, Şarlota returned when her mother died, and she comes to get an inheritance. However, upon her arrival, she is shocked to discover her mother’s house has burned to the ground.

When she starts questioning what has happened, the townsfolk become very bitter towards her. However, the only one willing to support er is local herbalist Mira. As the two slowly bond, the townsfolk begin suspect that Şarlota may not be who sets out to be. As she begins to question what has happened to her mother, it leads to the townsfolk thinking she may be a witch and go as far as make her the target of murder. Can Şarlota prove she is just trying to find answers and ensure the safety of her own life?

A meshing of traditional society views and homage to the likes of folk horror and witchcraft, Tereza Nvotová has come up with a film that brings a lot of tension and emotion with loads of twists and turns. While having influences from the likes of Midsommar and The Witch as well as a using an actual person from a small village in her native Slovakia, Nvotová has come up with an amazing psychological horror that’s driven by its dedicated cast.

Nataliá Germani is excellent in the lead role of Şarlota (pronounced Char-lota), who returns to her childhood village only to be seen as a pariah due to her questioning of what happened to her mother and her bonding with local herbalist Mira, played in an exhilarating debut performance by Eva Mores. The two’s natural chemistry is the heart of the film, especially because Mira is the only person Şarlota can trust as the rest of the town, especially the men, shun her as a witch at one point.

Kudos also has to go to Iva Bittová in her role of the accused witch Otyla, who is believed to be involved in the disappearance of Şarlota’s sister. As a matter of fact, she is based on a real-life woman who lived in a small town in Slovakia who lived away from the village and did things to make the townsfolk believe she was actually a witch.

While most of the men can be seen as antagonists who are abusive in the same vein as our lead’s mother, there is at least one good male in the film who does have a heart and seems to have a liking for Şarlota despite dealing with the wrath of others. One character who definitely who one will wish to meet some fate is the very arrogant and brutish Tomaş, played by Marek Geisberg. He goes as far as thinking he’s the mayor of the village, goes as far as force himself on Mira in front of their children, and takes drastic measures to save his own hide.

The film’s look at traditional society is pretty disturbing as the women are seen as inferior and just because Şarlota questions about what happened to her mother and all, she is automatically seen as a witch and murderer. What is very interesting is that while the film does have one good male character as mentioned, there is one female character who keeps with the traditions and sides with the men, even as far as freaking out during a very insane scene that looks like it could come straight out of Midsommar.

Nightsiren is a fantastic meshing of traditional society and folk horror, driven by excellent performances by Natalia Germani and the debuting Eva Mores, who is definitely one to look out for. A winning film for director Tereza Nvotová.

WFG RATING: A

Breaking Glass Pictures presents a BFilm/Moloko Film production in association with RTVS. Director: Tereza Nvotová. Producer: Milos Lochman. Writers: Tereza Nvotová and Barbora Namerova. Cinematography: Federico Cesca. Editing: Thibault Hague and Pavel Hrdlicka.

Cast: Natalia Germani, Eva Mores, Juliana Olhová, Iva Bittová, Jana Olhová, Marek Geisberg, Zuzana Konecná, Noel Czuczor, Peter Ondrejicka, Matus Rysan, Sára Tömölová.

The film will be released on Digital on October 24 from Breaking Glass Pictures.