Austrian horror drama Luzifer (2021) might look in its trailer like another recent modern time horror-folk title like the Islandic Lamb (2021), but it is also inspired by the true story of an exorcism. It is the story of a man with the mental faculties of a child who must save his mother, thereby becoming god and devil.
The movie centers on Johannes, an innocent Kaspar Hauser-like man with the heart of a child, who lives secluded in an alpine hut together with his eagle and his devout mother. Daily life in this isolated world is governed by prayer and ritual. But suddenly, modern objects and disruptive noises intrude between nature and worship. A tourist development threatens to poison their paradise and awaken the devil.
This is the new movie of writer and director Peter Brunner, an awards-winner filmmaker and musician responsible for titles like My Blind Heart (2013), Those Who Fall Have Wings (2015), and To the Night (2018). The movie is produced by Ulrich Seidl, a popular Austrian filmmaker winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Venice in 2001 for Dog Days (2001) and the Paradise trilogy formed by Paradise: Love (2012), Paradise: Faith (2012), and Paradise: Hope (2013). As a producer, he has supported the horror films Goodnight Mommy (2014) and The Lodge (2019).
The cast for Luzifer (2021) is formed by Susanne Jensen, Franz Rogowski, Theo Blaickner, Monika Hinterhuber, Erwin Geisler, Clemens Göbl, and Markus Eibl.
The movie had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival where it was nominated for the Golden Leopard for Best Film and won the Swiss Critics Boccalino Award. It’s also taken part in the Fantastic Fest, Fantasy Filmfest, and Sitges Film Festival where it was nominated for Best Motion Picture in the Official Fantàstic Competition, and achieved the awards for Best Actor and Best Actress in the Secció Oficial Fantàstic.
Luzifer (2021) is scheduled for a digital release on April 28, 2022. Watch here its trailer, in the original German language and with English subtitles.
