Disc Reviews

Nightsiren Blu-ray Review

• 3rd Jun 2024

Described as a psychological mysterious feminist movie may sound about right, but there are probably other words you can throw in there to fatten out the meat of this story.

This Slovac-Czech film sees 8-year old Sarlota accidentally push her younger sister off a cliff in the opening moments of the film.  She flees and does not return to the woodland area until she is an adult (then played by Natalia Germani). She is reintroduced to local familiar figures, observes the abuse the males dole out to the oppressed female population and makes her way through her emotionally tormented trail of having to deal with her past.

The female relationships are the core of this narrative. Euro-horror is very good at shining a light on communities that are driven by folk culture and male authority and Nightsiren is worth checking out for that alone. What is presented is often sickening and yet believable in the extremes. Some extremes in horror can be so powerful that they put you off having any enjoyment watching the film. Thankfully there are great performances from the cast. The cascade into those extremes in the third part of the film is handled well and the skill of filmmaking is above par. Director Tereza Nvotova handles the narrative well and delivers, often, hypnotic scenes.

As much as the male obtrusiveness and abuse is hard to watch it also doesn’t seem as far-fetched as the more “witch” centric fantastical scenes. But what aids in this mission is that you need more than just male villains, you also need to show off how ugly some of the female attitudes have become themselves, and often it can be even uglier than what the males represent. And yet despite the more sombre pieces of the film, it’s the female leads here that really shine.

This all is heading toward tragedy of course, but Nvotova still manages to hold onto something pure throughout that remains after the film has finished. Nightsiren isn’t fun viewing, but it is very engaging.

There are a few video essays on here that tap into the subject matter, and Kat Ellinger delivers a commentary track to match those efforts. There isn’t much in the way of background filmmaking from the film makers sadly, but the supplematary material on offer has some thought out behind it.

• New audio commentary by film critic Kat Ellinger
• Witches and Sisterhood, a brand new video essay on witches and the idea of “sisterhood” as it pertains to both biological bonds and feminist collectivity by film critic and author Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
• Taboo, a brand new video essay exploring the relationship of femininity, the unknown and sexuality in Nightsiren by film critic and festival programmer Justine Smith
• Theatrical trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Beth Morris
• Double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Beth Morris
• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Anton Bitel, Cerise Howard and Alexandra West

Nightsiren is out on 3rd June 2024

Steven Hurst