Anna Biller discusses her new medieval horror film and gender politics

Anna Biller’s new medieval horror, The Face of Horror, is set to world-premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, where she hopes to secure a distributor. The story, drawn from the Japanese legend Yotsuya Kaidan and relocated to feudal England, pits a self-absorbed knight, Edward, against his loyal wife Eleanor and a glamorous queen Isabel, with Eleanor’s sister Beatrice and her ghost adding further obstacles.

Biller said the film deliberately sidesteps the typical horror trope of women as passive victims, choosing instead to explore Eleanor’s relationship with her sister and present her as a formidable, though tragic, figure. Production involved high-ceiling sets, soft overhead lighting, and more than a hundred jewelry pieces, reflecting Biller’s hands-on approach that includes hand-drawn storyboards and no reshoots. Casting challenges were resolved when Kristine Froseth joined at the last minute, bringing a meticulous script-revision process.

While Biller uses AI for routine legal clarification, she dismissed its usefulness for creative writing, calling it “oppressive.” The interview also touched on her fascination with witchcraft as a metaphor for women’s outsider status and her belief that contemporary cinema still favors male-centric narratives.