VOD of the Dead - UNWELCOME (2022)
Folk Horror has been having a moment over these past few years. From Midsommar to Hagazussa there has been an uptick in the number of horror films that dabble in mythology and mysticism, and quite frankly, I can’t get enough of it. The trajectory of this sub-genre has been fascinating, as it has become far more visceral in modern times than it historically has been. Comparing movies like The Wicker Man (the original UK version) to more recent outings like The Babadook is a lot like comparing comedy of the 60s to comedy today. While both can make people laugh, the humor today is objectively more crass much like the folk horror of the modern era is more overt in its depiction of violence and dread. Either way, it’s a great time to be a fan of folk horror, especially if you have a SHUDDER subscription. Coming to the scary-good streaming service FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 2023 is UNWELCOME. Is this UK/Irish folk horror film another sordid story worth telling or is it tall tale worth disregarding?
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Married couple Maya and Jamie escape their urban nightmare to the tranquility of rural Ireland only to discover malevolent and murderous goblins lurking in the gnarled, ancient wood at the foot of their new garden.
HOW IS IT?
Unwelcome is the everything bagel of folk horror movies. Not content with being pigeonholed as just a folk horror film, it dabbles in the arena of creature features and opulent gore. Shedding the often skittish and slow-burn style that the sub-genre is used to for something more playful and violent. Straddling these lines isn’t easy, but it also isn’t without precedent. What Unwelcome does so well is it takes things that are familiar and juxtapose them together to create something unique and novel. While it doesn’t succeed fully in these attempts, it does end up winning you over with an ending that is surprising and different in the best possible way.
On the surface, Unwelcome is about a couple who experience a home invasion and assault that cause them to leave their city home in favor of something more secluded. On a deeper level, it’s about how that trauma becomes disabling to some and empowering to others. While this may sound straightforward, the film is almost anything but considering it borrows from multiple sub-genres to create one cohesive story. When the couple moves to a country home left to them by a deceased relative, they begin anew only to find that the problems that plagued them prior still persist, kind of. The reason for the vague descriptions is largely to withhold a handful of narrative twists that are saved for the film’s final act. What can be shared is that this new home they’ve inherited also comes with a responsibility to feed a group of forest creatures called “redcaps”. In spite of the couple’s disbelief, it becomes clear quite quickly that the redcaps are indeed real and in need of tending to. This doesn’t even get us to the contractors the couple have hired to help them renovate the home; a family of local outcasts who may have a history of violence. Between the redcaps wreaking havoc around them to the contractors doing the same inside their new home, it seems that once again this couple is having their life invaded by forces who seek to do them harm and they must decide whether they will fight back or succumb to the bullying and abuse they experienced before.
The first half of the film is a bit of a slog. Getting familiar with the new surroundings, characters, and the ambiguity around the existence of the redcaps is what the first hour cover. At times it can be hard to stay engaged with the story since not a lot really happens, and thankfully that changes in the last 40 minutes. We learn a lot about the previous owner of the home, their involvement with the redcaps, and ultimately it is revealed that the contractors they hired are more likely to do the couple harm than they are to help them. There is a clear sentiment underneath about gender roles in relation to overcoming assault, and the filmmakers seem to imply that while men talk a lot about being tough, when push comes to shove they are not as likely as their female counterparts to rise to the occasion. Such is the case with Jaime, the male half of this couple. He takes to boxing and punching bags as a means to deal with the stress of the assault they experienced, while carrying around guilt and shame for not doing more to protect his pregnant partner, Maya. Maya, on the other hand, seems to rise to occasion when the going gets tough and this ultimately leads to an ending that is extremely far out and also quite fitting given the character’s arc. The performances are all quite solid, and while the redcaps aren’t creepy per se, they do offer quite a bit of character considering how little (pun intended) time they are in the film until the last act. The biggest issues the film faces is that it seems to have so many ideas and not enough time to develop all of them fully. Even though the ending is righteously awesome, it all feels like it comes to a close more quickly than had some story details been divulged sooner rather than later. Furthermore, the cinematography and score here is top notch. Some of the landscape shots and scenes are pristine and vibrant, in particular the shots of the Irish countryside This isn’t to say that Unwelcome suffers because of this, it just makes the overall viewing experience a bit uneven and unfocused, but still unique and interesting.
LAST RITES
Unwelcome is technically impressive and brimming with ideas borrowed from a host of different sub-genres that combine to create a film that is hard to describe and easy to enjoy. While it may have benefitted from a better focus on some of the more interesting concepts, it is held up by an extremely strong ending that defies expectations and justifies some of the missteps taken to get there.
THE GORY DETAILS
Directed By
Written By
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Where can you watch it?
Unwelcome debuts on Shudder Friday, June 23, 2023!
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