Hagazussa — //top\\

: As a child, Albrun witnesses her mother succumb to a horrific, plague-like illness while being tormented by nearby villagers who label her a witch.

Years later, an adult Albrun still lives in the same cabin, now a single mother tending to a herd of goats. She is completely alienated from the nearby village. A brief glimmer of hope appears when a local woman named Swinda attempts to befriending her. However, this relationship quickly reveals itself to be a malicious trap, culminating in a brutal act of sexual violence that shatters Albrun's fragile psyche. Part 3: Toxic Descent and Delirium

: 15th-century Austrian Alps, a time of deep superstition and religious repression. : Often called "Germany's answer to ," it is a arthouse piece with minimal dialogue (around 20 lines). : The film is divided into four runic chapters: Plot & Key Themes Hagazussa

Hagazussa premiered at the Fantastic Fest in 2017 and later streamed on Shudder. It holds a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics but a significantly lower audience score.

As a young girl, Albrun lives in a secluded mountain cabin with her mother, Martha. The local villagers view Martha as a witch, subjecting the pair to cruel harassment. When Martha contracts a horrific, disfiguring plague and dies in a sequence marked by nightmarish imagery, Albrun is left deeply traumatized and entirely alone. Part 2: The Illusion of Connection : As a child, Albrun witnesses her mother

Albrun recovers but is changed. She stops speaking. She milks the goats and pours the milk into the earth. She eats only the black fungus now. Her cough stops. Her eyes no longer reflect firelight. Brother Markus returns to find her sitting in the center of her hut, goats gathered around her in a perfect ring. He asks, “Are you in pain?” She smiles. Her teeth are stained with something dark. “No,” she says. “I am the pain.”

The film is most frequently compared to Robert Eggers' The Witch (2015), a fellow slow-burn folk horror masterpiece. While Hagazussa is often considered a kindred spirit, critics differ on which film is superior. However, it is undeniable that Feigelfeld's debut, made as his film school graduation project and financed with crowdfunding, is a remarkable achievement that stands on its own as a unique and powerful vision of medieval horror. A brief glimmer of hope appears when a

The enduring fascination with Hagazussa stems from how effectively the witch archetype acts as a cultural mirror. As explored in feminist film theory and horror scholarship, the witch represents:

A Hagazussa was a person—typically a woman—who existed on this physical and spiritual threshold. She had one foot in the social collective and one foot in the occult wilderness, allowing her to commune with nature spirits and gather forbidden herbal knowledge.