Writer/director Tristan van Doorn‘s Diabolical (Diabolisch) isn’t the typical possession movie. Instead, it’s a slow-burn mystery and a film that explores trauma and family secrets. It’s also very much a movie about what we inherit from our parents, whether we want to or not.
Caroline Lichtenberg stars as Jessica. When she was a kid, her mom suffered from strange and inexplicable psychological symptoms. Now, Jessica suffers from similar symptoms. She sees shadowy figures. She continually scratches herself, until her arms redden and bruise, and she has nightmares regarding her mother. When she asks her father (Dirk van der Pol) about all of this, he largely avoids giving her answers and evades the questions. Much of the film deals with Jessica’s complicated family history and what exactly happened to her mother.
Meanwhile, Jessica forgets to do basic tasks at work, and her strange behavior really strains her relationship with her daughter, Anna (Elske Stout). Again, this is very much a film about mothers and daughters, and the scenes between Stout and Lichtenberg are some of the strongest in the film, especially as Jessica’s odd behavior worsens. How do you love a parent with so much baggage? Anna does her best.
By the halfway point, the film clarifies some of its questions, once Jessica learns that her mother saw Dr. Erlings (Jos Timmerman), an expert on demonic possession. Jessica’s father largely dismisses Dr. Erlings as a conman, but by speaking to him, Jessica finally gets some answers. There’s a real risk that this backstory and subplot could have been cheesy or laughable, but it’s handled well, which is a credit to the script. For the most part, the film maintains its serious tone.
For those looking for scares and a possession movie that’s truly unsettling, this isn’t quite it. It’s a very slow-burn with scares sprinkled in here and there. It requires a lot of patience, and the film is more concerned with unraveling a complicated family mystery rather than terrifying the audience. A lot of the film plays out like a family drama more than anything else. That said, the last act does ramp up and leans into possession territory without feeling overly repetitive or stereotypical.
While Diabolical is a bit light on the scares, it’s a moody and atmospheric film with family drama and trauma at its core. There are no head-spinning scenes in this possession movie. Rather, this feature is about one woman’s attempt to unpack her messy family history and stave off her own cruel fate. van Doorn crafted an intriguing horror film that doesn’t rely on jump scares and instead rewards patience.
