Aislinn Clarke combines folklore and modern horror to creepy effect in Fréwaka, her chilling depiction of two women facing trauma that is more shared than they realise.
Director: Aislinn Clarke
Genre: Horror
Run Time: 103′
BFI London Film Festival Screening: October 11-12, 2024
U.S. Release Date: TBA
U.K. Release Date: TBA
It seems fitting that Fréwaka begins in 1973, the year in which The Wicker Man was released. This is just one parallel, the most obvious, but both films are also about intense isolation, weird cults, and unanswerable sights. That is not to say Fréwaka, Aislinn Clarke’s (The Devil’s Doorway) second feature film, is a copy-and-paste job; it feels very much like its own beast, stuffed with haunting imagery and stellar atmosphere.
As it so often is in horror films, trauma rears its ugly head for the main characters, but it is Fréwaka’s utilisation of Irish folklore and reflection on the Magdalene laundries that set it apart from others in the genre.
Shortened from its original title “Fréamhacha”, which appropriately translates as “roots”, Fréwaka follows Siobhan (Clare Monnelly, The Gone), known as Shoo, as she looks to leave behind memories of an abusive past with her recently deceased mother (Tara Breathnach, Dune: Part Two). After the 70s opening, the film fast forwards to the present day. Following her troubled mother’s suicide, Shoo and her pregnant fiancée Mila (Aleksandra Bystrzhitskaya, F20) start clearing out her flat in Dublin, which is chock full of Catholic paraphernalia and rusting memories. A care worker, Shoo is called out for a live-in two-week assignment in a remote village caring for frail agoraphobic Peig (Bríd Ní Neachtain, The Banshees of Inisherin).
Peig lives with mental health issues such as paranoia and anxiety, which is unsurprising after the film’s opener shows how Peig, as a youngster on her wedding day, mysteriously disappeared and then came back. Clarke’s impressive screenplay layers the mystery and intrigue upon us from the start, carefully intertwining Shoo and Peig’s deep-rooted traumas together, revealing flashes of each at appropriate moments. One of Peig’s deepest fears is who she refers to cryptically as “them”, an unnamed presence who she claims lives below her house.
Fréwaka is many things: a haunted house chiller, a mystery thriller, a folkloreish weirdfest, a spine-tingling horror. For the most part, Clarke impressively juggles these various elements to shivering effect, although the film’s angle on mental health feels slightly underdeveloped. There are even small snippets of gore that elevate but never cheapen the horror. Furthermore, Clarke’s general avoidance of cheap jump scares marks Fréwaka out as something more memorable than other modern horror films. This same uniqueness bleeds into other aspects, such as Die Hexen’s (Double Blind) original score; whilst occasionally reliant on loud droning, the music generally stands as an atmospheric addition to the film, with a recurring leitmotif that is both haunting and oddly beautiful.
Fréwaka builds up in this ominous fashion as Peig’s paranoias lift out Shoo’s repressed insecurities and memories. The story is very strong, and Monnelly and Neachtain share extremely good chemistry, adding clear anguish to their characters along with some surprising humour. Good buildup and good payoff is essential for horror films of this ilk, and Fréwaka achieves both very well. Clarke’s film is less scary (although there are moments that will make your heart race) and more atmospheric, which is much to the director’s credit, and even certain horror clichés don’t detract too much from the experience. After the credits roll on a sublime ending, there are certain images that will stick with you for days to come.
Fréwaka will be screened at the BFI London Film Festival on October 11-12, 2024. Read our list of 30 movies to watch at the 2024 BFI London Film Festival!
