I sometimes get advance screeners and I'm not sure where to place them. Since no one can see the movie yet, if I mention them in the "recent viewing" threads they'll be forgotten. So I think I'm going to start making new threads on them. That said, unless you live in a major city you still probably can't see NOVEMBER until it comes out on DVD/Blu-ray/VOD later this year. So consider this a placeholder; if the description catches your interest, look for it later.
NOVEMBER is based on an Estonian novel. There is a plot about a love triangle, but the movie is really about its setting, a magical version of Estonia in the middle ages. It is something like THE WITCH, in that it takes folklore seriously, but it's not ambiguous in the slightest that folk magic is real. There are witches, werewolves, pagan beliefs existing alongside Christian ones, the Black Death, and most uniquely, kratts---which are a kind of peasant robot assembled from farm implements (or whatever you have lying around) and infused with a soul, which must be purchased from the Devil. It keeps you going for 2 hours with one WTF? scene after another. The black and white cinematography is impressive. Obviously, you have to deal with subtitles.
Definitely worth seeing if you have the slightest interest in folklore and fairy tales, or fantasies set in alternate histories. I'd probably give it 3.5/5, but I'm a tough grader, so it may be more like a 4/5 on most people's scales. I'll have a full review on 366weirdmovies.com tomorrow.
