The Northerners

Martha is drawn into sainthood and the family home becomes a shrine, with prayers at her window and a growing sense of devotion from the villagers. The church formally recognizes her as a saint, cementing the town's belief in miraculous signs. The transformation unsettles the family as their private life becomes public spectacle.

Jacob, the local butcher, finds it increasingly hard to cope with Martha's religious fervor and the new shrine in his home. His frustration boils over, exposing a darker, controlling side as he struggles with his own sexual needs. The domestic peace collapses into tension and misbehavior.

Thomas, a 12-year-old boy, becomes obsessed with the broadcast about the Congo's liberation and renames himself Lumumba. He uses the news as an escape from his ordinary life, shaping his identity around a distant political fantasy. This fixation marks him as a child adrift between two worlds.

Thomas spends hours wandering the forest, seeking solitude away from his family. In the trees he meets Agnes, a half-naked woman who hides at the pond's bottom and teaches him how to breathe underwater by sucking on a stem. The encounter blends wonder with dangerous hunger, fueling his flight from reality.

Simon, the postman, moves through the town reading everyone's mail and knowing their intimate secrets. He becomes a guide to the town's surreal mood, encouraging Thomas's escapist fantasies. His gossip and candor knit the community's bizarre texture.

Two Belgian priests visit the town, bringing with them an exhibition of Africana and a lone Negro. The spectacle exposes colonial attitudes and adds a disturbing, voyeuristic layer to the residents' lives. The presence of the Negro foreshadows darker currents beneath the surface.

Jacob’s behavior grows more predatory and he attacks women, deepening the town's moral decay. The family’s fragile balance gives way under his violence. His actions push Martha and the others toward crisis.

Thomas's meetings with Agnes continue, but his mother's divine premonitions frequently interrupt their encounters. The tension between sexual awakening and religious superstition becomes a defining pressure in the boy's world. The forest and pond become a stage for this conflict.

Anton patrols the forest, intent on preventing trespassers, and catches Simon red-handed in his act while pursuing the Negro. He becomes a violent, misdirected hunter losing any sense of proportion. The town's law-and-order myth collapses in this freakish ecology.

During a violent moment, Anton accidentally kills Agnes and hides her body under the pond. The Negro witnesses the murder and blinds Anton, flipping the power balance in the town. The forest absorbs the crime into its strange history.

Elisabeth, pregnant with Jacob's child, leaves Anton because he has become asexual and emotionally unavailable. The departure deepens the family's crumble and leaves Anton alone with his guilt. The personal tragedies mirror the larger farce playing out in the village.

Martha's fasting leaves her bedridden, and the villagers pray at her window as they mistake her depression for sanctity. The church elevates her to sainthood, intensifying the town's public ritual around her. The line between faith and morbidity becomes dangerously thin.

Anton, now blind, is found dead from the cold under a tree. The Negro leaves the town, severing ties with this troubled place. The town ends its strange chapter in near silence.

Lumumba's murder is broadcast, and the news saddens Thomas who clings to his fragile fantasy. Simon returns to the settlement as the official post-master, welcomed by Thomas with a warm, if uneasy, smile. The town moves on in its strange cycle of devotion and violence.