Two crime scene techs, Elvis (Erlend Nervold) and Leo (Jon Sigve Skard), are cleaning out the house of a dead man when they find a secret room in the basement. Inside, they find a mute woman (Silje Reinåmo) and a bunch of cassette tapes detailing her past. They immediately call it in and settle in to wait for backup. The girl doesn't seem dangerous, just weird, but as they listen to the tapes, they slowly start to realize how weird.
This was refreshing on a number of levels. No sexual assault! Any other movie with a naked girl in a hidden basement room it would be a given, but not here. In fact, Thale's nudity is not lingered on or male gaze-y. She happens to be naked but it's not treated as titillating. Wholesome! It's low-budget with only about four speaking roles but it never feels cheap. The CGI on the monsters is a little dodgy but the movie saves the close-up shots for when they'll do the most good so it still works. New mythological creatures! Well, to me at least. Meet the Hulda, Scandinavian forest spirits like a mix between dryads and succubi. Yay!
It's not super gory and there aren't a lot of jump scares. It's just a nice, atmospheric, rural horror with a good story and few, if any, cheap tropes. Currently streaming on Tubi.
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