A Film That Turns Your Brain Into Raita, Not Yogurt
This is the kind of film that will mess up your brain with fear and confusion to the point that you’ll keep pausing it again and again… then play it again after drinking some water, just to see what happens next. Even I had to rewind one particular scene five or six times last night to fully understand it.
Instead of going into lengthy philosophy, let me tell you a saying: trouble can come at any time. It has no fixed hour. But how would you feel if disaster struck on your birthday? And not just any disaster—but one that turns into a deadly game of life and death?
Eva is paralyzed, confined to a wheelchair, and lives only with her old diabetic father, who can’t even make a call. She works in an office where her boss constantly tortures her mentally.
On December 3rd—Eva’s birthday—her friend Sophie visits her at 11 PM to wish her. She brings a gift: a small, old, but beautiful wooden box. But it’s not just a box—it’s a mysterious, terrifying Advent Calendar. Inside it resides a creature named Ich, a strange being that embodies both good and evil.
Eva unlocks the first drawer with the key inside the box. A chocolate falls out, wrapped with a note listing three rules:
1. Whatever comes out of the calendar must be eaten, taken, or used.
2. You must follow the rules until the last drawer is opened. If not, Ich will kill you.
3. If anyone tries to destroy the calendar, they too will be killed.
(There are 24 drawers—one for each day. If Eva doesn’t open one, it will open by itself at midnight.)
Curious, Eva eats the chocolate. Sophie jokes:
“If you eat all this, you’ll survive until Christmas.”
As the clock strikes twelve, the second day begins—December 4th. Another drawer opens on its own, revealing a tiny figurine and a slip that reads:
"Whatever gift or benefit the calendar gives you, you must pay a price. It will affect you and your loved ones. And anyone who harms you will die."
From here, strange things begin. The dead home phone suddenly rings. Eva answers, and hears her father’s voice:
“Happy Birthday, my daughter.”
She realizes the calendar truly has some mysterious power.
The next day, Sophie takes Eva to a bar, trying to get her to experience romance. Sophie introduces her to Boris, a lustful man. He tries to take advantage of Eva in his car, but when she resists, he throws her onto the road to run her over. Just then, the clock strikes twelve. A drawer opens at home, releasing a toy car, which Eva’s dog begins to chew. As the dog bites into it, Boris writhes and dies horribly.
From here, a deadly game between Eva and the calendar begins—each drawer adding more mystery, horror, and suspense.
Forget who made the film or why. What matters is that it’s a psychological horror-thriller. Its strength lies in the fact that no horror scene is repeated, and there is no cliché killer like in other films. The calendar itself is the horror, forcing Eva to fulfill her desires—at a cost. The editing is brilliant: the timing of the drawers opening, the shifts from night to day, the slow-motion of the calendar unlocking—everything adds to the mystery. There’s not much gore, but the atmosphere itself is enough to make your head spin.
The lead actress, Eugénie Derouand, gives a stellar performance—portraying Eva’s helplessness and inner conflict beautifully. Watching her, you’ll constantly wonder:
“If you were given a way to fulfill your deepest wishes—but at the cost of sacrificing your loved ones—would you take it?”
This horror film is especially for those who love complex and challenging cinema. And yes, more than once while watching, you’ll probably curse me in your heart for recommending such a film.
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