Gwen Movie Review

Gwen is a 2018 British period folk horror drama with gothic, supernatural, and psychological horror. William McGregor wrote and directed it while producing by Hilary Bevan Jones. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018, where the film's star Eleanor Worthington Cox received the Toronto International Film Festival Rising Star award.

Plot

Gwen, a young farm girl in North Wales, is out playing with her sister Mary. They pass a group of men tending to some dead body as they die of cholera. Gwen’s father is not around for an unknown reason. At night, Gwen hears a commotion outside. She goes to find out. But because of the stormy weather, she couldn’t see anything. Family visits the church the next day. Before leaving, Gwen's mother gets into a conversation with a man, which disturbs both. After returning home, they see an animal’s heart nailed to their front door. Gwen's mother gets numb because of the incident. After that, many weird incidents keep happening near their house. Gwen goes to investigate the neighbor’s house who died. She observes bloody hand prints all over and rotting food on the table. Later, Mother scolds Gwen for entering the house and refuses to listen to her assumptions about the incidents. Back home, Mother gets a mysterious illness that makes her have violent seizures. Father not being available, Gwen tries desperately to hold her home together. A growing darkness begins at her home, and the suspicious local community turns on Gwen and her family. How will Gwen overcome these problems alone? Will she be able to find out the reason behind the illness and horrific incidents happening?

Star Performance:

The incredible acting delivered by Gwen and her mother Elen carry this film. The natural tension and drama the two manage to build throughout the film are believable. You can tell they love each other immensely, but both have opposing views of what is right to do while waiting for the father figure to return from war. Watching Elen deteriorate under the stress of maintaining a home and finances while her husband is gone is arguably a painful thing to witness. But, it is ultimately performance of Gwen that stands out. We watch as she drives through each new horrible thing that arises that her character has to tackle. Overall, Gwen successfully tackles the subject of men’s greed and the terrifying actions that greed and fear can influence a man to do while also tackling the dangers of isolation.

Analysis:

The film is a slow-paced, ice-cold, windy, black and heartwrenching story with lots of sickness and death that digs into you as the plot develops. It is a folk tale set in the hills of Wales during the industrial revolution. It is horrifying how bad things can be and how helpless humans could be. As the writer and director William McGregor show in the film, secrets kept with the best intentions do more harm than good. Once revealed, there is nothing you can do to stop the aftermath of the consequences such revealed secrets can unleash. That is where the horror in this film lies. As the film reaches its climax, you hope something good will finally happen for the family. But within that hope, all hearts are crushed.

What’s There?

• Hauntingly beautiful location
• Incredible acting

What’s not There?

• Slow-paced

Verdict:

The cinematography is gorgeous. The storyline is highly suspenseful, and the underlying message is compelling and outrageous. The fans of the horror genre can enjoy it more.