『Between Love and Faith — Shadows at the Boundary of Freedom and Control』
🎥 Movie Overview
🎬 Title: Attachment (Original title: Natten har øjne, 2023)
🌍 Country: 🇩🇰 Denmark
🎞️ Genre: Horror / Drama / Queer
⏳ Runtime: Approximately 90 minutes
📢 Director: Gabriel Bier Gislason
👩💼 Cast: Josephine Park – as Maja
Ellie Kendrick – as Leah
🧩 In-Depth Story Analysis (Spoilers)
🌌 From Romance to Horror
This film combines three major elements to subvert the conventions of a traditional horror movie.
- The Romantic Comedy Beginning: The story opens with Danish actress Maja and British Jewish scholar Leah meeting as if by fate and falling in love almost instantly. The opening acts are humorous and charming, carried by the excellent chemistry between the two actresses. This allows viewers to form an emotional attachment—true to the title—before the tone shifts.
- The Infiltration of Horror and Folklore: When Leah suddenly suffers a seizure and injury, she returns to her home in London, and Maja follows her. From this moment, the film’s tone drastically changes. Leah lives with her mother Chana, a devout and overprotective woman residing near London’s Haredi Jewish community. As Chana’s strange behavior, mystical rituals, and Jewish folklore—especially the legend of the Dybbuk—begin to surface, the film transitions into the realm of folk horror.
- Multi-Layered “Possession”: The title Attachment represents not just romantic attachment but multiple forms of possession and obsession woven throughout the story.
- Familial Possession: Chana exhibits an overbearing maternal control over Leah, hindering her independence.
- Supernatural Possession: Leah’s seizures and erratic behavior suggest she may be under the influence of a Dybbuk, an evil spirit in Jewish mythology.
- Romantic Possession: Maja, terrified of losing Leah, becomes emotionally dependent and increasingly obsessed with saving her—showcasing the destructive side of love as possession.
🌾 The Mother, the Lover, and the Sacrifice
The narrative gains emotional depth through the complex dynamics between the three central women.
- Chana (The Mother): At first, Chana appears to be the stereotypical strict mother who distrusts Maja as an outsider. Her rigidity and religious zeal create discomfort and tension. However, as the story unfolds, her actions are revealed to stem not from cruelty but from deep sacrifice and love. She ultimately emerges not as a villain but as a tragic figure who has endured immense suffering to protect her daughter.
- Maja (The Outsider/Savior): Serving as the audience’s perspective, Maja enters a world of unfamiliar Jewish customs and unsettling mysteries surrounding Chana’s rituals. She strives to save Leah through the power of love, embodying a romantic hero archetype. Yet, through this journey, she comes to confront her own ignorance and arrogance.
- Leah (The Victim/The Center): At the core of the story, Leah remains passive—her body and will overtaken by seizures and external control. Trapped between her mother’s and lover’s conflicting attachments, she becomes an object of both protection and possession. The audience is left questioning who truly has Leah’s best interest at heart.
🧑🤝🧑 The Reversal of Relationships and the Meaning of “Attachment”
In the second half, the film delivers a shocking twist that redefines who is attached to whom—and why.
- The Paradox of Sacrifice: Maja, convinced that Leah is possessed by a Dybbuk, delves into Jewish rituals and traditions to save her lover. Her attempt to perform the exorcism becomes an act of ultimate devotion and romantic sacrifice.
- The True Possessor: However, the truth reveals that the bond between Chana and Leah is far more complicated than it first appears. The twist exposes that the real source of attachment lies not in Maja’s love but in an older, darker bond. Maja’s pure intentions are consumed by an inherited cycle of obsession and sacrifice that predates her arrival.
💙 Questioning the Definition of Love
The relationship between Maja and Leah raises a haunting question: What is true love, and where does love end and obsession begin?
Their romance begins beautifully and impulsively but is gradually overshadowed by generational secrets, sacrifice, and control. Maja tries to become Leah’s savior, yet she ultimately remains an outsider “attached” to a much older story within the Jewish community. The film contemplates whether Maja’s love can truly free Leah from the dark cycle of attachment—or whether she, too, becomes part of it.
- Use of Jewish Folklore Horror: Unlike most exorcism films rooted in Catholic or Christian imagery, Attachment stands out for its use of Jewish mysticism and folklore. The Dybbuk, salt rituals, and Kabbalistic symbols enrich the narrative with cultural depth, transforming faith and superstition into instruments of fear and meaning.
💡 A Psychological Horror Romance Exploring the Duality of Attachment
Attachment is a remarkably balanced debut film that skillfully weaves together horror, romance, and drama. Rather than relying on jump scares, it builds dread through quiet unease and emotional tension between characters.
Most importantly, it demonstrates that true horror lies not in the supernatural, but in the obsession and control hidden beneath the guise of love. The final act’s sudden shift in perspective and revelation may feel abrupt to some viewers, yet it powerfully reframes the entire story as a meditation on the meaning of love and sacrifice. Ultimately, this is a haunting and thoughtful psychological horror film that asks what it truly means to save the one you love.
🎯 Personal Rating
💕 Love Scene Intensity: ♥♥
⭐ Rating: ★★
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