Agnes (Anja Plaschg) was looking forward to being married and having a house and family of her own. But her husband (David Scheid) doesn't touch her, her mother-in-law (Maria Hofstätter) is overbearing, and the chores expected of her are drudging misery. What's an emotionally sensitive girl to do when the most attractive option means you won't get into heaven? She looks for a loophole.
Love that the premise is "what if you were a peasant in 1750" and that's it. The past fucking sucks. The movie does a good job showing that no one is really at fault here. Agnes' husband does love her but it is heavily implied that he prefers men, so he can't give her what she wants --a baby-- but he also can't really tell her why. And there's no divorce. So Agnes is left shouldering the burden of being childless, trying to learn a lifetime's worth of skilled labor in a couple of weeks, feeling judged and found wanting at every turn. In modern times, she would probably be vegan but that's also not an option, so she feels guilty and surrounded by death with every meal she makes. And up until around 1970, that was the reality for literally millions of women.
There's a super depressing end title card detailing the court statistics that inform this movie, just in case you thought it was me being a rabid feminist again. But if you like rural folk horror like Hagazussa, this might be one for you. It's currently streaming on Shudder.
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