Funereal PlotsHorror
Cinema reviewsMatthew
M. Bartlett
Unwelcome
Director – Jon Wright
Screenplay Mark Stay
Story by the two of ‘em
Eight or so months after an implausible violent home invasion by cartoonish toughs in their city apartment, a scene that echoes the start of the far superior folk horror movie The Ritual, Jamie (Douglas Booth) and his pregnant wife Maya (Hannah John-Kamen) drive down a country highway. In the car, they tell each other things they already know, so that we, the audience, might be informed as well.
“Why are you smiling - your Aunt Maeve has just died, remember?”
“But she’s left us a house with a huge garden.”
The subsequent scenes provide that exact same information organically—one wonders if it’s the screenwriter or the studio that doesn’t trust the audience to be able to figure it out. My guess would be the latter, as the unnecessary (and sort of insulting) expository dialogue is rendered in voiceover and reeks of post-production overcorrection.
In any event, what a fortunate and convenient turn of events for a couple seeking to leave the city and start a new life for them and their baby!
That’s not the end of the problems of this folk horror misfire. Immediately upon arrival, our main characters meet Jamie’s aunt’s neighbor, who kindly wastes no time in informing them that the departed Aunt Maeve left a regular blood offering for little people (Red Caps, or Far Darrig) who live in the wood on the other side of the wall. With all due gravity, she tells them that this daily ritual must be upheld, lest the volatile little fellas get mad and cause havoc.
Pretty obvious setup, right? We surmise that they’ll either ignore the advice as silly superstition, or slip up one day and forget, and then the fun will begin. But nope! The ritual is mentioned only once more, and only once do we see Maya leave out some raw liver for the miniscule monsters. It would be generous to credit the script with being unpredictable, but it seems more like the writers just…forgot.
The real villains in the movie are the Whelans—a family of local contractors who, without any discernible motivation, immediately begin to steal from and harass the young couple—shades of Straw Dogs here as we see Jamie flail wildly at a punching bag and mutter about never letting such a thing happen to his wife again. Here, again, the audience is set up for Jamie to rally at the end. Does he?
Take a guess.
As its plot slowly, painstakingly unfolds, Unwelcome trades merrily in rusty old Irish stereotypes—this little village is awash in Guiness, argyle sweaters, and folksiness. Some scenes take place with a hazy, indistinct background meant to suggest a fairy tale, but it just looks like green screen trickery to hide the food trucks and production trailers. Impatiently we watch the drama with the Whelans unfold, waiting for the much-discussed Red Caps to finally make their appearance.
And once they do, Unwelcome finally comes to life—but you may at this point, just over an hour in, be forgiven if you’re past caring. For what it’s worth, the creature design is first rate, the Gremlins-reminiscent Far Darrig a hoot to watch, unlike their human counterparts. From here we get a few bursts of murder and mayhem and comeuppance, a surprise revelation that I suppose is somewhat surprising and revelatory, and a conclusion that suggests the story is over. The last fifteen minutes, a kind of epilogue, suggests what the movie could have been—a dark, bloody, poetic burst of supernatural folk horror. Then the credits roll.
