It’s going to be hard to forget this dark fable by Australian Goran Stolevski (his very different Of An Age is also screening at MIFF). He’s not afraid to be daring, setting the story in 19th century Macedonia and centring it on a largely non-verbal girl.

The girl (Sara Klimoska) has been confined to a cave for 16 years by her mother in a bid to save her from a witch. She knows only leaves, rock walls and a patch of sky and is unprepared when the witch, Old Maid Maria, finds her and claims her as an acolyte. For the witch (Anamaria Marinca), this means a companion in her world of bitterness, envy and revenge but she underestimates the pull that life has for the childlike girl.

Relying primarily on the narration of the girl which, authentic to her lack of nurturing and schooling, is simple and ungrammatical, this could easily pall but Stolevski has an ability to turn her simple thoughts and words into poetry and pathos.

He uses claustrophobic cinematography and an intense and evocative soundtrack of music, natural sound and silence to keep us slightly off kilter throughout. Combined with solid performances, it’s a mesmerising combination.

The girl shifts form from human to human, for a while she is a mother as Noomi Rapace, for another stint she is a man, played by Carloto Cotta, and finally she becomes Alice Englert. It’s an ingenious device as we see her experience the social structure from all sides, allowing us to question what role we might choose if we had the chance. The performances by Rapace, Cotta and Englert convincingly carry her persona as she learns and grows, keeping us anchored and ensuring we care for her as a protagonist.

Ultimately this is a story about our choice to live with bitterness or hope and it avoids moral judgement – even Old Maria Maria is treated with understanding. The title is both dark comfort and warning.

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Have you seen this film? Let me know your thoughts.