Rating: 4/5
Hooptober X | 16/34 | Devil-Centered 3/3 There’s a reason for it all. I’m suffering for the greater good, for a higher purpose
Michaela (Sandra Hüller) is a religious 21-year-old woman who has spent the past few years in the hospital because of epilepsy. After six months without an incident, her father supported her desire to go to college and get her teaching degree. Her mother, however, doesn’t believe she can handle it
At school, Michaela makes a friend, Hanna (Anna Blomeier), and meets a boy at a party. She also starts to have epileptic episodes again. At first, Hanna and her father help cover for her. Hanna encourages her to see a doctor and get help
Initially, Michaela follows through with the doctor’s visit, but the experience reminds her of the years in the hospital that seemed to have done nothing. She stops believing that they are epileptic seizures and believes that demons are tormenting her. Her priest tries to sway her to medicine, but the church vicar believes her and tells her she is suffering like Saint Katherine, who resisted the devil and found redemption in death
Shot on 00s digital gives the film a DIY aesthetic, making the story feel more personal drama than outright horror. The events are based on actual events but with names and locations changed — one of the rare instances where everything that happens on screen is believable
Sandra Hüller is so good! She has such a realized character, and her journey is so heartbreaking
Overall, this is an upsetting but human drama