November

In nineteenth-century Estonia a village lives in famine, plague and debt. The villagers build creatures called kratts out of farm tools and bones and give them life by paying the devil in blood; the kratts serve their owners and demand new work the moment a job is done. Liina is in love with a farmer's son, who is in love with the German baron's daughter at the manor. Rainer Sarnet adapted Andrus Kivirähk's novel and shot it entirely in black and white with hard contrast, landing somewhere between folk horror and fairy tale. In this world Christianity, pagan practice and superstition do not cancel one another; all of them operate at once and the villagers use each in equal measure. Who it is for: viewers who like folk horror and visually singular European cinema. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a clear narrative, since the film builds its own logic.