Film archive, 2025

Bride of the Covenant

Khế Ước Bán Dâu

Director LE-VAN Kiet

1Festival entries

★Avg. rating

19th-century Vietnam. Young bride Nhai marries into the wealthy and prestigious Vu family. Suffocated by a blood-sealed marriage vow and the family’s strict yet bizarre code of conduct, she ultimately bears witness to the desires and curses festering within the household. At the root lies an unbreakable pact the family has made with the tree god. In the dead of night, strange vibrations traveling along the beams of the old mansion make the presence of the tree god all the more chilling. Director Le-Van Kiet, who showcased powerful female-driven action in Furie (2019), now fuses Vietnamese folk beliefs with body horror to open a new chapter in Asian folk horror. A family history warped by Confucian patriarchy and unchecked desire, and the deep-seated resentment of a woman crushed beneath it, take corporeal form in blood-soaked flesh. The creaking timbers of the wooden manor awaken dormant terrors, summoning a sleepless night.