Moloch is a 2022 Dutch folk horror film directed by Nico van den Brink, starring Sallie Harmsen and Alexandre Willaume.
Contents
Plot
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 night when a mysterious stranger attacks the house, setting off a string of unexplained events that Betriek attempts to unravel about the mystery of the stranger. All the while, an ancient evil lurks deep within the bog.
Cast
Sallie Harmsen as Betriek
Isabel Merbis as young Betriek
Alexandre Willaume as Jonas
Anneke Blok as Elske, Betriek's mother
Hansje van Welbergan as young Elske
Ad van Kempen as Ton
Noor van der Velden as Hannah, Betriek's daughter
Markoesa Hamer as Sonja
Edon Rizvanolli as Radu
Jack Wouterse as Hans
Phi Nguyen as Lennard
Willemijn Kressenhof as Dr. Mensinck
Fred Goessens as Roelof, Betriek's father
Release
The film was released in theatres in the Netherlands on 19 May 2022.
Reception
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, 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 rated the film 4 stars out of 5. 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."
Roosje van der Kamp of filmkrant wrote a mixed review of the film. 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."