Fréwaka

Called away to a remote village, a care worker tasked with looking after a dementia-riddled patient in a remote village comes to suspect something more sinister is going on with her repeated claims of something living in the house that soon proves more deadly than she expected.

Overall, this was a rather fun and likeably chilling slow-burn folk horror effort. Among the better features to be had here is the immensely chilling setup that manages to touch incredibly well on the nature of guilt and loss. The main setup to bring them together involving the need to offer her care in her home in the remote village and bringing about the slow discovery of the terrifying instances within the house that aren't just related to the dementia prognosis she's there to treat makes everything rather straightforward with how it reveals everything going forward. With the revelations about what's happened to her over the years from the others in the village who know about what happened to her and what it meant that led to her current condition which points direct fingers at the oppression inflicted by the Church at women years ago, there's a great base here involving the traumatic past coming back to haunt someone at the present. This is all nicely tied together to the concurrency backstory involving the growing sense of unease that comes about with how the connection to the workers' traumatic past comes into play. Realizing that the entire episode is a means of allowing her to come to gripes with the inappropriate manner in how her relationship with her mother hindered her in the latest stage in her life before her life, the connection allows her to explore the stories being told to her which brings about the discovery of the initial incident that occurred decades ago that left the woman in her care the wreck that she is. Although this leads to an immensely chilling and creepy setup, there's far too much going on before this is accomplished, which leaves the film rather one-sided, as the first half builds everything up with little to no payoff. The film is a bit blander than its setup warrants, with very little happening to denote overt and obvious instances of something happening due to the more subtle nature showcased. It's not detrimental, but it does bring it down slightly.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

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.

Frewaka is a slow, slow burner with a very cool premise involving Irish folklore. The camerawork, framing, and music/sound create an extremely atmospheric movie that isn't afraid to take its time. Realistically, it probably should have shown /a little/ restraint in this aspect. While I liked this at first, I felt myself growing impatient by the end. I appreciated the absence of jump scares, which are always cheap.

The plot progression is another story. While individual scenes are constructed well, they don't feel properly connected. As if things were left out or cut, causing what's there to feel oddly disconnected. It also feels like it should be explaining things more/better. It's not like there's a veil of mystery, it's more like a character will talk about something without explaining what it is in the first place. There were more than a few times that I wasn't sure what someone was talking about and rewound to make sure I didn't miss something. I suspect this movie was written with the assumption that the viewer has pre-existing knowledge of some specific Irish folklore. And if you don't have that familiarity, it creates a feeling like they're forgetting to explain things. Or maybe it's just bad writing. I honestly have no idea, but I overall enjoyed the movie either way.

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.

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.