After Home (Orizzonti, 2016), the Belgian director returns to explore adolescence through the eyes of Holly, a fifteen-year-old endowed with a particular sensitivity that enables her to alleviate people from their sufferings. Her mere presence conveys tranquility, warmth, and hope to a community that has just undergone a trauma. This talent makes her special but also more vulnerable.
The theme of adolescence runs through many of your films. Is there something autobiographical in this choice?
There’s always something autobiographical, obviously, because we pick up things around us and we use them. In every film I’ve made, there is always the presence of younger children, especially in my first films. This is because there was that kind of innocence that interested me compared to the adult world. For Home, I turned to adolescents because, at that time, I had two young children myself. It became very emotional, being too personally involved as a mother. I just felt I needed some distance from my characters to be able to talk about them without too much personal involvement. When I was developing Holly, I wasn’t sure about her age at first. Then I realized that if Holly were too young, the demands people placed on her would have felt too abusive. Moreover, in that case, I wouldn’t have been able to convey that there could be some responsibility in what she does. On the other hand, if she were older, let’s say a young adult or a woman, it would have become very tricky to convey the feeling that she eventually could use her talent to deceive people. So, 15 seemed just the right age for Holly.
After a fire broke out in a local school and many students were left killed or injured, a community comes together and try to make sense of the tragedy. That morning, fifteen-year-old Holly called the school to excuse herself for the day. A teacher, bewildred by Holly’s stra...
Holly possesses this unique sensitivity, which is why she’s referred to as ‘The Witch’. It’s such an ancient tale, isn’t it?
She possesses a sensitivity that isn’t acknowledged as a talent but rather perceived as something unusual, making it easier for others to view it as something repellent rather than finding it interesting. So, at the outset, they label her The Witch, even without understanding its true significance. It’s merely a term people quickly employ when someone doesn’t fit in.
Is this also a film on how to come to terms with grief?
Grief is exceptionally challenging to accept due to the devastation it brings. However, this is also why people turn to prayer and seek Holly’s help, as they struggle to come to terms with the fact that their children were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The story also needed this grieving community to illustrate how people tend to search for reasons rather than accepting life’s unpredictability. I also wanted to emphasize the importance of spirituality in a world where we often seek answers online, through technology, and on social media, mistakenly thinking that everything is explained and devoid of mystery. Even though people may have distanced themselves from spirituality, in the movie everyone turns to Holly to find reasons and answers. Initially, I chose the name Holly because it evoked the image of a beautiful, sweet, and innocent girl. Later, I realized the connection with the word ‘holy’ and decided it was just the right name.
