''Moloch'' is a 2022 Dutch

folk horror Folk horror is a subgenre of horror film and horror fiction that uses elements of folklore to invoke fear and foreboding. Typical elements include a rural setting, isolation, and themes of superstition, folk religion, paganism, Human sacrifice, sa ...

film directed by Nico van den Brink, starring

Sallie Harmsen Sallie Harmsen (born May 2, 1989) is a Dutch actress having had roles in ''In Real Life (film), In Real Life'' for which she won Golden Calf for Best Actress at the Netherlands Film Festival 2008. Harmsen appeared in ''De Geheimen van Barslet'' Go ...

and Alexandre Willaume.

Plot

The film focuses on 38 year old Betriek (

), who lives with her family in a house on edge of a peat bog in north

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. 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

as Betriek * Alexandre Willaume as Jonas * Anneke Blok as Elske * Ad van Kempen as Ton * Noor van der Velden as Hannah * as Sonja * Edon Rizvanolli as Radu * Jack Wouterse as Hans * Phi Nguyen as Lennard * Willemijn Kressenhof as Dr. Mensinck * as Roelof

Release

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

Reception

On review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an approval rating of 88% based on 16 reviews. 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." Kevin Toma of ''

de Volkskrant ''De Volkskrant'' (; ), stylized as de Volkskrant, is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium- ...

'' rated the film 4 stars out of 5. Whang Yee Ling of ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...

'' 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." Roosje van der Kamp of '' filmkrant'' wrote a mixed review of the film. Jon Mendelsohn of ''

Comic Book Resources ''CBR'', formerly ''Comic Book Resources'', is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic book–related topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publicat ...

'' 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."

References

External links

* * {{rotten-tomatoes, moloch_2022, Moloch 2022 films 2022 horror films 2020s supernatural horror films Demons in film Dutch horror films Folk horror films Moloch in literature and popular culture