Vamp or Not? You Won’t Be Alone

This 2022 Macedonian film is a folk horror (sort of) film directed by Goran Stolevski and I was struck, as I watched it, by similarities to Catalonian vampire flick All the Moons, at least in broad strokes of the theme, though this is certainly more expansive in the experiences of the central character, Nevena (Sara Klimoska). That thematic similarity is not the reason for looking at this as a ‘Vamp or Not?’ The reason for that is that the central mythology strays into vampire-trope territory.

It starts with a cat running through the fields, as children play, and entering the domicile of new mother Yoana (Kamka Tocinovski). The mother has already shooed away the children (not hers but using her home as a hiding place in hide and seek). As she chased them out she warned that the wolf-eateress would get them. Breaking into her domestic scene is the witch known as Old Maid Maria (Anamaria Marinca) – she had entered in the form of the cat.

with the baby

It is worth taking a moment to look at Maria – she is one of the so-called wolf-eateresses but she has little in the way of hair and her skin is a swirl of scar tissues. We later discover that this is due to being burnt as a witch. The distinguishing feature for the witches in this is the thick black claws on their fingers, and the large dewclaws coming from the palms. She looms over Nevena in her cot. Yoana tries to bargain for her daughter, though Maria plainly states she wants a drop of her blood (the inference being that a baby contains no more than a drop).

Kamka Tocinovski as Yoana

Yoana suggests that she lets her bring up the daughter until 16 and then Maria may have her and the witch agrees, though there is a price and she cuts at the child’s mouth with a claw, leaving her mute. Once Maria has left, Yoana takes the child to a disused cave (that was clearly once used as a sacred space) in the belief that she will be safe there and then tells the local villagers that her child has been taken. She raises the girl in the cave, not allowing her to see the outside world.

Old Maid Maria

The ruse does not work and Maria comes, able to enter the cave at the allotted time, to claim the feral girl. The mother tries to prevent this and then we hear screams off screen. The mother marches to the girl and takes her out. As she marches out over the hills we see her throwing viscera away and suddenly she is Old Maid Maria. The witches can shapeshift and they do this by stuffing the viscera of the creature (Maria was the cat and later a wolf, for instance) or person they wish to emulate under their skin.

the dewclaw in the palm

Maria tears a hole into the girl’s chest and spits into it. The witches are created through witchspit and a witch can only turn once (much like the vampires can only turn one person in All the Moons). A small amount of fire over the wound heals it and Nevena suddenly has the claws. Maria tries to teach her the wolf-eateress ways but despairs – for instance Nevena is more interested in adopting a pet than drinking the blood of creatures they capture and it is the blood that’s important, it gives them their strength. Eventually a frustrated Nevena throws a stone at Maria who abandons her (and yet always seems to return, trying to manipulate Nevena onto the path she has chosen for her).

wolf-eateress

The majority of the film shows the various lives Nevena lives, taking the place of a variety of folk. She becomes an exact replica of the person she steals the identity of but is still dumb and, of course, does not have their memories. She can take on both male and female forms, able to fully function in either skin. Unlike All the Moons, where the vampire mother vanishes by accident and is lost through the majority of the film, Old Maid Maria deliberately leaves her but returns semi-frequently mocking Nevena’s attempt to have a normal life. The film also reminded me of Hellbender but where the daughter in that wanted to reclaim her witch heritage, Nevena wants to claim a lost human life.

tasting blood

So, we have the ability to turn another, a form of shapeshifting but, more importantly, we have blood drinking. As the film follows Nevena’s lives we see little else in the way of powers and this is why I said “sort of” when it comes to this being a folk horror. It is folk, certainly, and there are horror elements but for the main this is a drama with Nevena experiencing life as both male and female, adult and child. There is also a backstory shown for Maria, in the form of a folktale. This was a brave film in terms of the themes it covered and whilst it might be slow in places it is worth a watch and I would say these are vampiric witches.

The imdb page is here.

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