Housewitz on the surface seems to focus on a woman who suffers from agoraphobia. And she seems to choose to be in (and occasionally around) her house for decades with her family helping her get through every day life. However Oeke Hoogendijk’s documentary, Housewitz is so much more than that. While yes, the woman in focus throughout the documentary is agoraphobic. But she is also a Holocaust survivor and that is the reasoning behind her agoraphobia. It is heartbreaking to see someone who overcame such incredible odds. This woman lost her family but managed to escape. She suffers for the rest of her life from a disease she cannot shake. She was given a second chance at life and because of the horrors she experiences, she is terrified to leave her home and surrounding area.

Housewitz shows the terrors and horrors that people can experience and even decades later, they still have these horrors living in their psyche and can ruin everyday life for them. The documentary is heartbreaking and beautiful simultaneously. Here, he shares her stories from when she was a young girl and the nightmares and fears she has even today. There is so much to dissect, forcing the audience to stay focused solely on one woman and her stories. The film does this without breaking off to other family members or friends or the alike. This drives home how impacted her life is, and the challenges she goes through on an everyday basis. Housewitz is haunting and incredible storytelling that cannot simply be ignored.