In faithful 18th-century Austria, the daily oppression of the newly married Agnes gradually takes its toll. The dowry turns out to be a depression and the prayer string chains her hands. Can Agnes free herself from eternal damnation? Franz and Fiala plunge you inexorably into an unfamiliar chapter of Europe’s dark history. You don’t wash that off easily.

Deep in the forest, a waterfall drowns out the sound of a crying baby. Around the baby’s neck, a woman hung a rosary. Soon after, she knocks on the door of a prison tower to confess to a murder. Dense fog descends on the land. Outsider Agnes is just married when she learns about the murderess’ fate. In the house her husband bought, she languishes day after day under the noose of him and his mother. Other villagers show themselves as untrustworthy as the mud in the local fishpond. Across their bloodthirsty lips the word hysteria barely rolls. No matter how many prayers Agnes recites or crosses she strikes, there seems to be no escape from the suffocating straitjacket of her imposed existence. In her head and heart, a dark moth flutters.