Belgium
In a rural village, a woman lives with her awkward adult son Charel, who is ridiculed by the villagers. She feels guilty about his life and longs to have him back as a baby.
After a situation in which the pair is embarrassed again, they go home. There, the mother rocks their pet, a fish, as if it were her child. Charel, jealous and frustrated, goes to the café and accidentally kills the fish at night when he returns drunkily. Afraid of his mother's reaction, he hides it and flees into the forest.
There he sees a shepherd couple with a baby and decides to steal the child to impress his mother. He disguises himself with a decapitated goat and hurries back to the village.
The village panics; everyone thinks the devil has appeared. People gather in the church armed with pitchforks and axes. The mother sees Charel, thinks he is the devil, and cuts him down. Then she discovers the stolen baby, which she sees as a gift for her heroic deed. The village celebrates this joyful event while the devil is burned.
In a rural village, a woman lives with her awkward adult son Charel, who is ridiculed by the villagers. She feels guilty about his life and longs to have him back as a baby.
After a situation in which the pair is embarrassed again, they go home. There, the mother rocks their pet, a fish, as if it were her child. Charel, jealous and frustrated, goes to the café and accidentally kills the fish at night when he returns drunkily. Afraid of his mother's reaction, he hides it and flees into the forest.
There he sees a shepherd couple with a baby and decides to steal the child to impress his mother. He disguises himself with a decapitated goat and hurries back to the village.
The village panics; everyone thinks the devil has appeared. People gather in the church armed with pitchforks and axes. The mother sees Charel, thinks he is the devil, and cuts him down. Then she discovers the stolen baby, which she sees as a gift for her heroic deed. The village celebrates this joyful event while the devil is burned.
