You are here:
The Field Guide to Evil

The Field Guide to Evil

2019

R

Director

Agnieszka Smoczyńska, Can Evrenol, Peter Strickland, Yannis Veslemes, Katrin Gebbe, Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala, Calvin Lee Reeder, Ashim Ahluwalia

Runtime

117 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

Synopsis

A feature-length anthology film. They are known as myths, lore, and folktales. Created to give logic to mankind’s darkest fears, these stories laid the foundation for what we now know as the horror genre.

Where to Watch

Diversity & Representation

Overall Score

6.1/10

Good


Category Breakdown

LGBTQ+ Representation

Fair

The anthology format makes explicit queer narratives difficult to confirm. While the film avoids standard heteronormative tropes, it lacks prominent, centralized LGBTQ+ identities.

Gender Representation

Good

The film subverts traditional hierarchies by focusing on female agency and psychological depth. Women often drive the uncanny or grotesque rather than serving as passive victims.

Racial & Ethnic Diversity

Excellent

The film excels by rejecting Anglo-centric storytelling. By including Indian and Turkish contexts, it provides a globalized perspective that dismantles Western-centric horror norms.

Religious & Cultural Diversity

Good

Evil is framed as a subjective, culturally contingent phenomenon. The segments critique universal morality by portraying traditional institutions and social orders as sites of decay.

Disability Representation

Limited

Psychological distress is used primarily as an atmospheric tool for surrealism. There is little evidence of proactive representation regarding physical or sensory disabilities.

Strengths

  • Strong rejection of Anglo-centric storytelling through a global directorial cohort.
  • Effective subversion of gender hierarchies by centering female agency and psychological depth.
  • A sophisticated, post-colonial approach to folklore and cultural settings.

Areas for Improvement

  • Lack of prominent or centralized LGBTQ+ narratives within the segments.
  • Insufficient proactive representation of physical or sensory disabilities.
  • Tendency to use psychological distress as an atmospheric tool rather than character agency.

AI Analysis

The Field Guide to Evil succeeds as a progressive horror anthology by utilizing a global cohort of directors to dismantle Western-centric narrative norms. Its greatest strength lies in its racial and ethnic diversity, moving the genre away from standard Anglo-centric landscapes toward a post-colonial exploration of folklore. However, the film struggles with consistent identity-based representation. While it subverts gender hierarchies by centering female agency, it lacks explicit LGBTQ+ narratives and fails to provide proactive representation for characters with physical or sensory disabilities. Ultimately, the film is a structural triumph of moral relativism. It replaces a monolithic view of evil with a fragmented, polyphonic exploration of human darkness across diverse cultural landscapes.

How are these scores produced? →

Rate this Movie

No rating selected
Use arrow keys to select a rating from 1 to 5 stars
Optional text review, maximum 2000 characters
Tip: Wrap spoilers with ||double pipes|| to hide them
0/2000 characters
You must be signed in to submit a rating

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts on this movie!

Use the rating form above to leave a star rating and optional review.