Dir: Julia Kuwalski | Polish/French 98’
In a remote French village strange goings on for a Polish family of dairy farmers in this impressive drama playing in this year’s Quinzaine Selection at Cannes Film Festival
A cow dies after ingesting a mysterious mushroom. The young daughter Nawojka (Maria Wrobel) experiences nighttime fits and inexplicable urges her father suggests she should wear a Christian symbol to ward off evil spirits. But when an unknown French woman Sandra moves in next door with her provocative behaviour and bizarre appearance things really take a turn for the worst. It’s the classic trope of strange newcomer arriving and inspecting the status quo.
A sinister soundscape and the dour surroundings of the French countryside in early winter only add to a creeping sense of dread that pervades this enigmatic thriller that scratches on the edges of horror with its selection of unsavoury characters, that inhabit Kowalski’s sophomore feature that explores the experience of integration in a close knit Polish family trying to make a new life in a foreign land @MeredithTaylor
DIRECTORS FORTNIGHT 2025