Moloch is a 2022 Dutch folk horror film directed by Nico van den Brink, starring Sallie Harmsen and Alexandre Willaume.

Moloch
Directed byNico van den Brink
Screenplay byNico van den Brink
Daan Bakker [fr]
Produced bySabine Brian
Ronald Versteeg
Starring
CinematographyEmo Weemhoff
Edited byXander Nijsten
Music byElla van der Woude
Production
company
NL Film
Distributed byXYZ Films
Release date
  • 19 May 2022 (2022-05-19) (Netherlands)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryNetherlands
LanguagesDutch
English
Romanian

Plot

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The film focuses on 38 year old Betriek (Sallie Harmsen), who lives with her family in a house on edge of a peat bog in north Netherlands. The family's relatively peaceful existence is shattered one day when a mysterious stranger attacks the house one night, setting off a string of unexplained events that Betriek attempts to unravel the mystery of the stranger. All the while, an ancient evil lurks deep within the bog.

Cast

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Release

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The film was released in theatres in the Netherlands on 19 May 2022.[1]

Reception

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On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 88% based on 16 reviews.[2] Kurt Halfyard of ScreenAnarchy called the film a "bonafide gem of a horror movie" and van den Brink a "filmmaker to keep a very close eye on."[3] Kevin Toma of de Volkskrant rated the film 4 stars out of 5.[4] Whang Yee Ling of The Straits Times rated the film 3 stars out of 5, calling it a "well-crafted exercise in dread" and wrote that van den Brink "turns an over-familiar tale into a uniquely local folk horror."[5]

Roosje van der Kamp of filmkrant wrote a mixed review of the film.[1] Jon Mendelsohn of Comic Book Resources wrote that while the film "plays with interesting ideas and spends time with its characters", it "can't seem to blend everything together into a concrete whole" and "final product is a bit unsatisfying."[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b van der Kamp, Roosje (3 May 2022). "Slim, gelaagd, uitgedokterd". filmkrant. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  2. ^ "MOLOCH". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  3. ^ Halfyard, Kurt (18 July 2022). "Fantasia 2022 Review: MOLOCH, Dark Whispers of Intergenerational Trauma". ScreenAnarchy. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  4. ^ Toma, Kevin (18 May 2022). "De variatie aan horror-ingrediënten geeft de spookwereld in Moloch een indrukwekkend reliëf". de Volkskrant. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  5. ^ Whang, Yee Ling (17 August 2022). "At The Movies: Moloch beats Kisaragi Station when it comes to dread". The Straits Times. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  6. ^ Mendelsohn, Jon (20 July 2022). "REVIEW: Moloch Serves Up Underwhelming Horror Despite Its Game Cast". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
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