Hagazussa (2019) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Albrun's mother flees after the traumatic invasion where men accuse her of witchcraft. The combination of terror, physical deterioration from illness, and psychological breakdown drives her to desperation. The snakes surrounding her body appear in the morning, though it's ambiguous whether they are real or part of Albrun's traumatized perception. This moment establishes the supernatural or symbolic elements that will blur reality throughout the film.

Foreshadowing: The traveler's warning about the malevolent Perchta spirit foreshadows this death, as the men who invade wear goat skins and horns, likely invoking the Perchta's imagery.

• albrun's mother
• snakes
• death
• witchcraft accusation
• Perchta

The parson presents Albrun with her mother's polished skull in the church ossuary, declaring that cleansing sacrilege strengthens religious community faith. This is both a cruel gesture and a weapon of psychological torment, he weaponizes religious authority to remind Albrun of her mother's alleged witchcraft and the community's rejection of her family.

Foreshadowing: This moment directly foreshadows Albrun's final communion with the skull, deepening her descent into madness.

• parson
• skull
• mother
• church
• faith
• ossuary

Baby Martha's refusal to nurse marks a devastating turning point. This occurs after Albrun receives her mother's skull and experiences disturbing encounters. The refusal symbolizes the break in the mother-child bond and foreshadows the tragedy to come, Martha will die, and Albrun will lose her connection to both her child and her own mother.

Foreshadowing: This moment directly foreshadows Albrun's later actions with her daughter in the woods.

• baby martha
• nursing
• mother
• refusal
• breastfeeding

Swinda appears compassionate, intervening when boys torment Albrun and delivering the parson's message. However, she later orchestrates Albrun's brutal assault alongside a local man. This betrayal likely stems from the town's deep-seated superstition and desire to eliminate Albrun, who is viewed as a witch and outcast. Swinda's kindness may have been a facade to lure Albrun into vulnerability.

Foreshadowing: Swinda's earlier warning about those without God takes on sinister meaning after the betrayal.

• swinda
• betrayal
• assault
• town
• outcast
• attack

After being assaulted and having her goats stolen, Albrun acts out of rage and desperation. The goats represent her livelihood and connection to her mother who tended them. Poisoning the water is her act of vengeance against a community that has persecuted her, rejected her, and now brutalized her. This marks her complete shift from victim to perpetrator.

Foreshadowing: This act connects to the corpses Albrun later sees being removed from town, her revenge has caused death.

• poison
• water
• goats
• revenge
• assault
• village

Albrun consumes a hallucinogenic mushroom, plunging into psychosis. In her disturbed state, she leads Baby Martha to a stagnant pond and allows the infant to drown. It's unclear whether she understands what she's doing or perceives it differently within her hallucination. The drowning represents the ultimate destruction of her maternal bond and her complete surrender to madness.

Foreshadowing: This tragedy is foreshadowed by Baby Martha's earlier refusal to nurse, breaking their mother-child connection.

• baby martha
• drowning
• pond
• mushroom
• hallucination
• psychosis
• infanticide

In her grief-stricken and psychosis-ridden state, Albrun discovers her daughter's corpse in the cabin. Overcome with horror and madness, she drops the body into bubbling soup and takes a bite, immediately vomiting. This act represents the complete collapse of her sanity and the horrifying realization of what her psychosis has caused.

Foreshadowing: This cannibalistic act follows directly from the pond scene and her mushroom-induced madness.

• cannibalism
• daughter
• soup
• horror
• grief
• madness

After experiencing the full horrors of her psychosis, including visions of her mother, the dead daughter, and disturbing laughter, Albrun flees her cabin. She lies on a mountaintop as dawn breaks and ignites herself in the rising sun's flames. This final act represents her complete destruction: loss of her mother, loss of her child, loss of her sanity, and her acceptance of the fiery death the village once threatened.

Foreshadowing: The men's original demand that Albrun and her mother be burned alive foreshadows this self-inflicted end.

• self-immolation
• fire
• death
• mountaintop
• sunrise
• ending

The Perchta is a malevolent Alpine spirit warned about by the traveler at the start. Men wearing goat skins and horns invade Albrun's home, invoking Perchta's imagery. The film blurs whether supernatural forces are at work or if these are projections of the community's superstition and Albrun's deteriorating mind. The Perchta represents the folklore and fear that define how society treats Albrun.

Foreshadowing: The Perchta warning sets the tone for supernatural ambiguity that persists throughout the film.

• perchta
• spirit
• folklore
• goat
• supernatural
• Austria

The men who invade their cottage accuse them of witchcraft based on superstition and their isolated, outsider status. Living alone with goats in 15th-century Alpine Austria, they are easy targets for the community's fear. The accusation allows the villagers to justify their persecution and attempt to destroy what they perceive as evil, setting the tragic events in motion.

Foreshadowing: The mother's death and Albrun's later persecution confirm the devastating consequences of this accusation.

• witchcraft
• accusation
• village
• superstition
• persecution
• goats