Fréwaka

Fréwaka: Bleak Irish Folk Horror involving Fairy abductions, these Fairies however are very much of the Pagan variety and the film has a touch of The Wicker Man about it. In a prologue set in 1973, Mummers wearing straw masks crash Peig's wedding, they bring a goat with .them. Peig goes outside and disappears, her husband Daithi just sees a goat. Dearg Doom by Horslips is playing in the background. 99% of the dialogue in this film is as Gaeilge (in Irish). The present day, we see a woman commit suicide, to be found weeks later. Her estranged daughter Shoo turns up with her pregnant partner Mila, to clear out the apartment. Shoo is called away to care for a now invalid and isolated Peig, locals are reluctant to visit or deliver goods to her. Shoo has to force entry and finds the house filled with metal objects, salt and urine to keep the Fairies out. The cellar door has a horseshoe and other iron pieces attached. Peig believes that she was taken by the Fairies to another house underneath her own and Daithi made a deal to get her back and then committed suicide. Most of the locals are standoffish but one tells Shoo that Peig was in an asylum or Magdalene Laundry. The house itself is a character. A minor stately home, although its furnishings e.g. Stuffed animals would be more typical if those from an ascendency background, neither Peig or Daithi seem o fit that mould. It is large and rambing with the ever present cellar door providing both an attraction and a danger. A visitor might be a Fairy, at least Peig thinks so. Most of the horror here is psychological, it is suggested rather than shown except when Peig and Shoo reveal their scars (both physical and mental) to each other. There are some violent scenes though. Shoo's relationship with Mila also becomes strained. There is a question about how much that Shoo observes is real and we have reason to question it. Goats are a constant motif as is a strange boy, along with Catholic religious imagery and statuettes.. All of the threads eventually tie together suggesting to me at least that there is an occult explanation for the events. As well as Horslips, Die Hexen provides a haunting score. I thought Horslips' version of King of the Fairies would have fitted better than Dearg Doom but everyone's a critic these days. Written and directed by Aislinn Clarke. 8/10.

Director Aislinn Clarke offers a interesting Irish horror folklore with some interesting sophisticated horror choices on the direction, writing and atmosphere throughout. Irish horror folklore isn't discussed much and it's interesting to see how filmmakers are approaching the atmosphere and tone when it comes to Irish folklore.

Placed with beautiful camerawork and sound designs, the atmosphere and setting does apply a good strong presence of the creepy vibe and feel to it. Alongside with a great musical score and a good strong lead performance from Claire Monnelly. Clarke understands the haunting and creepy environment to allow the viewers to get drawn in, and establishing what is happening to make it go under your skin.

Now I do appreciate the new concept of the horror that explores. However, I won't call it masterful since some of the writing could be improved, especially when it came to the familiar structure and character engagement as the characters didn't feel really that interesting nor connectable. And with the concept, it does feel like a concept that has been done a bit too many times.

Overall, it's a solid horror folklore tale.

While gathering the left overs of her suicided mother's life, a woman is called away on a live-in carer's job for an old woman in an old house in the countryside. Where she finds a red door to the cellar, guarded by folk charms ...

Not really a horror, but a study in generational paranoid schizophrenia - with folk horror influences: The Wickerman and Penda's Fen come through strong in the climax. The plot device is the taking of children by the Sidhe, fairy entities that appear as goats and as humans too - but which are stand-ins for altogether more material demons from the past.

Interesting, with good performances, and some quality cinematography. But it is uneven. Early on there's a really striking image of the hanged mother in her wedding dress; later on, another wedding dress appears, but without any spooky touches - it's just there on a clothes hanger. And the folk horror details weren't delivered with enough style - think of the smile figures in the recent Smile 2 for the spookiness of good choreography. On the plus side, the visiting supervisor was just right in her buttoned down insanity - although her role trailed off into nothing. And the Father Ted style decor reeked of layered-on ignorance and obsession.

The dialogue is mostly in Irish, but lacking in lyricism - there is one powerful description by Peig of the other world, but otherwise the exchanges are quite banal, with lots of Ceart go leors ('alright') popping up. I noticed the phrase Geallaim duit ('I promise you') repeated 3 times, but the subtitles gave the final use a different translation even as the old woman marked it as the third time.

The outstanding element is the music and sound design: industrial folk doom, if that's a genre. Delivered by the mighty Die Hexen.

As a descent into madness, the story is good, but not of the first order since it shows us no way out. Not that the way out has to be taken, but its existence heightens this kind of drama. There is a little post-script after the end credits, which reinforces the theme of taking children, but too little to add extra enlightenment.

Overall: Interesting but uneven. And the title, so I'm told, is a phonetic version of the Irish for roots.

I recently watched the Irish film 🇮🇪 Frewaka (2024) on Shudder. The story follows a woman trying to balance a new job as a caretaker, a budding relationship, and haunting flashbacks from a troubled past. As the visions intensify, it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish reality from memory-or perhaps imagination-as her two worlds begin to blur.

Written and directed by Aislinn Clarke (The Devil's Doorway), the film stars Clare Barrett (Sacrifice), Tara Breathnach (Dune: Part II), Grace Collender (Blackshore), and Dorothy Duffy (The Magdalene Sisters).

I had mixed feelings by the end. While the film is a slow burn, the caretaker role and domestic dynamics are well developed. The performances are authentic and emotionally resonant, effectively conveying the protagonist's mental strain. The house itself provides a mysterious, unsettling backdrop, and the cinematography enhances the psychological tension with subtle visual cues that blur the lines between reality and delusion.

That said, I found myself wanting more from the narrative. The film builds to a strong twist, but I felt it could have been pushed further to deliver a more lasting impact.

In conclusion, Frewaka has enough well-executed elements to maintain your attention, but it ultimately falls short of its full potential. I'd give it a 6/10.

Please for the love of God stop calling all these boring ass movies "slow burn". Let's just call a spade a spafe shall we ?

I really enjoyed other Irish horror like The Hallow and to a lesser extent The Hole. I had hoped this was in the same vein.

Largely spoken in Irish (which I give the film credit for) we follow Shoo (Clare Monnelly), a care worker who is sent to a remote village in Ireland to look after an agoraphobic older woman. Soon, strange things begin to happen, and she finds herself the target of a sinister folkloric entity. Or something... I don't know. I couldn't finish it.

A movie needs to have some kind of flow, where exciting and calm parts exchange to keep the viewer interested. This movie had NOTHING going on to keep my interest. It moved at a snails pace, with just endless conversations and faux exciting moments with ominous music but end up as nothing.

As for pagan symbolism in the movie (which gives it the label "folk horror"), honestly I don't know what purpose it served. It certainly didn't match the story. In the end, it suddenly goes full Wicker Man with masked people walking in procession and a horned doing who knows what. You're left puzzled what the point of it all is.

I give it a higher rating because it was spoken largely in Irish (which is nice). Maybe this movie was better intended as a psychological drama than a horror. Whatever it was, it bored the living F out of me.