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Following a tragic loss, Dani (Florence Pugh) latches on to a trip to Sweden with her boyfriend, Christian (Jack Reynor), and his roommates on a mission to research a commune in rural Hälsingland. The community’s ghastly pagan midsummer rituals, however, test the couple’s already strained relationship. To develop the fictional Hårga cult, filmmaker Ari Aster worked with production designer Henrik Svensson to research Norse mythology, Swedish folklore, and European May Day and Midsummer traditions. Aster was also inspired by the book The Golden Bough by James George Frazer, describing it as “a treasure trove of insights.”

Benjamin Christensen’s Häxan is a hybrid film essay that blends documentary-style storytelling with campy macabre dramatizations to explore the storied history of witchcraft and the persecution that followed. Christensen spent two years researching before production, theorizing a connection between superstition and mental health disorders, saying he hoped to “throw light on the psychological causes of these witch trials.” The film was considered too disturbing for audiences upon release, and while it was heavily censored in other countries, it was completely banned in the United States; it didn’t see these shores until its first public screening in 1929. 

About our guest

Kris Esfandiari founded King Woman in 2009 as a solo outlet before joining forces with drummer Joseph Raygoza to forge a darker, more cinematic sound. In her 2021 album Celestial Blues, released on Relapse Records, Esfandiari reframes biblical archetypes through rebellion and renewal, using the memory of a childhood near-death experience to guide a ritual of musical transformation. The record received critical acclaim from outlets including Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, NPR, and Kerrang!, and was featured on several year-end “best of” lists. Alongside her work with King Woman, Esfandiari has released music under various other monikers, further defining her artistic voice.

Former Guatemalan dictator Enrique Monteverde is convicted of leading a cruel genocide on Indigenous Maya communities. When the Guatemalan high court overturns the verdict, protests erupt at Monteverde’s home. Monteverde, however, cannot escape spiritual law and is haunted by a ghost of his past. Filmmaker Jayro Bustamante was inspired by the Mexican folklore of La Llorona and the real-life indictment of dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, whose brief tenure is considered one of the bloodiest during the decades-long Guatemalan Civil War. La Llorona is programmed in accordance with the Cholq’ij, a sacred Maya calendar, honoring the day’s energy of Tz'i', signifying dog or coyote, a day of law and authority and to ask for divine justice.

A Puritan family in colonial New England settle in the wilderness after facing ostracization from their devout commune. As they build a new life on a farm, the isolation raises tensions between family members, their sanity and trust in one another deteriorating in the wake of baby Sam’s disappearance. To achieve the film’s historical accuracy, filmmaker Robert Eggers spent four years researching Puritan history and folklore, including Cotton Mather’s texts on the Salem witch trials. Eggers came to understand that the supernatural was a tangible threat Puritans felt during that period, an approach he bore in mind when developing The VVitch.

In 19th-century Macedonia, Nevena (Sara Klimoska), a mute and feral young woman, is converted by a carnivorous witch (Anamaria Marinca) into a fellow Wolf-Eatress—a name coined by nearby villagers for shapeshifting beings that roam the mountainous countryside. Soon frustrated by her softness and naivete, the Wolf-Eatress abandons Nevena, leaving her vulnerable to the world. Filmmaker Goran Stolevski drew from figures in Slavic folklore, such as Baba Yaga and the volkolak (werewolf), for this introspective exploration of a soul’s journey as experienced through different genders, ages, and creatures.

Set in 1980s Tehran during the “War of the Cities” between Iran and Iraq, Shideh (Narges Rashidi) is barred from returning to medical school due to her involvement with leftist groups. When her husband is summoned for military service, Sideh stays behind with her daughter, Dorsa (Avin Manshadi). A missile crashes into their building, bringing with it a malevolent wind spirit known as djinn. These invisible entities – recognized in the west as genies – are connected with desert wind and possess magical abilities. They originate from Arabian and Islamic folklore and are referenced in the Quran as either benevolent or sinister spirits.

Loosely based on the novel Ritual by David Pinner, The Wicker Man follows police sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward), who travels to the remote Hebridean island of Summerisle upon receiving an anonymous tip about a missing child. He becomes increasingly suspicious of the townspeople, disturbed by the peculiarity they display in the lead-up to their May Day celebrations. Though much of the pagan practices in The Wicker Man are rooted in exaggeration (e.g., wicker men sacrifices), the film is seen as a definitive entry in folk horror for its inclusion of elements from ancient Celtic practices.

Fleeing war in their native South Sudan, a young refugee couple, Bol and Rial (Sopé Dìrísù and Wunmi Mosaku), seek asylum in England following a treacherous journey. When an apeth (night witch) haunts them in their new home, the couple struggles to make a fresh start. Filmmaker Remi Weekes drew from Sudanese folklore and Dinka mythology to create his apeth, a masculine entity similar to a witch; though in this case, witchcraft doesn’t necessarily mean the use of spells—it can also mean the misfortunes that humans inflict upon one another.

In 14th-century Japan during the Nanboku-chō period of civil war, a mother and daughter-in-law duo (Nobuko Otowa and Jitsuko Yoshimura) survive by hunting lost samurai wandering through their swamp and looting their armor. When their neighbor, Hachi (Kei Satô), returns from the war, he challenges the strength of their relationship. Onibaba is based on the Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist folktale “Yome-odoshi-no-men” (The bride-scaring mask of Rennyo) about a mother who torments her daughter-in-law to test her faith as a follower of Rennyo (1415–1499), a Buddhist monk and the eighth head priest of the Hongan-ji Temple in Kyoto. Filmmaker Kaneto Shindô also incorporates a Hannya mask from Noh theater that represent Onryō, vengeful feminine spirits in Japanese folklore, not to be confused with the flesh-eating demon hags of the film's title.

In 17th-century India along the Malabar coast, folk singer Thevan (Arjun Ashokan) narrowly escapes slavery from Portuguese soldiers only to be driven by a yakshi into the ramshackle mansion of the menacing lord Kodumon Potti (Mammootty). Unsettled by the manor, Thevan soon discovers that Kodumon is a descendant of a powerful sorcerer who was gifted, by the goddess Varahi, a chathan (goblin), who the lord controls. Director Rahul Sadasivan drew inspiration from Kerala folkloric figures like the yakshi—feminine forest spirits—and Chathan (also known as Kuttichathan in child form), mischievous goblins known for harnessing mystical powers, to impart this atmospheric tale of oppression, power, and greed.