The Countess

In 17th century Hungary, Erzsébet Báthory stands as a formidable noblewoman wrapped in power and secrets. As age creeps in, she grows increasingly fixated on youth and beauty, drawn to a younger companion who stirs both desire and danger. The story follows her personal orbit of influence, where court politics, gender dynamics, and ambition collide with a troubling insistence that vitality can be preserved at any cost. Bound by a code of indulgence and control, she travels a dark path that tests loyalties and blurs the line between romance and something far more terrifying. The film foregrounds mood over spectacle while hinting at legendary cruelty. The camera leans in on faces, letting whispers and glances carry danger and secrets linger.

Directed by Julie Delpy and released in 2009, The Countess presents Erzsébet Báthory through a stylized, character driven lens rather than a historical chronicle, drawing on the figure’s notoriety as inspiration rather than a specific source novel for modern audiences.

Box office figures for this title are not widely reported, reflecting its limited art house release and niche audience worldwide. It found most of its visibility through film festivals and critical chatter rather than broad grosses in select international markets.

The Countess has sparked conversations about aging, power and female agency in historical cinema, with Delpy's restrained approach inviting comparisons to myth versus reality. Some viewers see it as a bold reinterpretation of a notorious legend while others find it uneven in tone. It reshapes conversations about historical figure portrayals.

Critics were divided over the film's pace and atmosphere, but many praised Delpy's performance and the way the story probes obsession, power, and betrayal within intimate relationships set against a rigidly hierarchical world. It also probes how desire can distort memory and moral boundaries themselves. For audiences around the world.