Fréwaka
Shoo's (Clare Monnelly, "Small Things Like These") fiancée Mila (Aleksandra Bystrzhitskaya) is perplexed by her lack of sentiment while cleaning out her mother's (Tara Breathnach) Dublin apartment after the woman committed suicide and even more surprised when Shoo agrees to take a primary care case in a remote Irish village, leaving Mila with the remainder of the job. Then Shoo's new charge, the elderly Peig (Bríd Ní Neachtain, "The Banshees of Inisherin"), begins to notice that 'they' have begun 'sniffing around' more since Shoo's arrival, her relationship with the supernatural having the deep roots known as "Fréwaka."
Laura's Review: B+
Writer/director Aislinn Clarke ("The Devil's Doorway") continues to explore Catholic repression in Ireland through the lens of the supernatural in her second feature, which evades the sophomore slump curse with its mastery of slow building dread. Hers is a well thought out script, which follows rules of three, Irish fairies said to be drawn to 'births, marriages and deaths' while shunning 'pure metal, salt and piss.' Homages to folk horror "The Wicker Man" can be seen in a small town hostile to outsiders and heads covered with straw masks while Shoo's mother's eerie closet lit with a Jesus with a glowing heart and crucifix recalls "Carrie." Die Hexen's ("You Are Not My Mother") original score leans on Irish folk ('they like music'), flutes and staticky radio broadcasts, the last act featuring deep horns that sound like moaning blasts from hell.
The film opens with a 1970's wedding, the bride disappearing after leaving the reception, a goat watching her vomit, her new husband Daithí (Mícheál Óg Lane, "Calvary," "The Guard") calling her in vain. This is followed by a woman dancing wildly in her apartment, then hanging herself, before introducing her daughter Shoo. Was that bride Shoo's mother? We will learn soon enough.
After pulling into the small town where her client lives, Shoo is advised by the bus driver to turn around and go home, but another local directs her to the house, located by a fairy tree. No one answers until Shoo is jolted by the sight of a woman inside, urine pouring out from beneath the front door. Shoo breaks a pane of glass to enter, surprised by a blood red door at the end of the hall and a mirror draped with fabric the skittish Peig demands be left covered. She'll finally agree to be put to bed, insisting she prefers her nightgown inside out and telling shoo 'they' are always listening and live beneath her house. Attempting to call Mila, Shoo is surprised Peig's land line will not allow outside calls to cell phones, then receives a call from community care informing her that her patient has metal health issues, suffering from paranoia and delusions, something Shoo is surprised to now see listed on her paperwork. She's informed community care will be performing a wellness check, as Shoo hasn't finished her certification.
Clark achieves a lot with a little, like a grouping of human figures, their heads encased in white cloth with eyes and nose holes ripped out, looking like Halloween pumpkins, or the good cop/bad cop routine laid on Shoo by shopper Méabh (Dorothy Duffy, "The Magdalene Sisters") and shopkeeper Éilis (Clare Barrett, "Wild Mountain Thyme"), the latter's sly smile heavy with implication. Cinematographer Narayan Van Maele weaves about both interior and exterior space, suggestion lurking around every corner. Monnelly and Neachtain work beautifully together, slowly building a bond of trust as they reveal their pasts, a photo album in Peig's basement and box of Shoo's mother's personal items delivered by Mila driving their histories closer together. A visit from Deirdre (Olga Wehrly) from the agency at a most inopportune time both bonds the women in a united front and causes a separation.
"Fréwaka" is rich in detail, visually and aurally stunning and beautifully acted. This is a must for fans of folk horror.
Robin's Review: B+
Shoo (Clare Monnelly) is a palliative care nurse in-training assigned to a difficult and reclusive patient, Peig (Brid Ni Neachtain). At first, they are just reluctant strangers but, as time goes on, the connection between the two becomes evident, then obvious, in “Frewaka.”
If you have a craving to see an intelligent, spooky film spoken almost entirely in Gaelic, then you should definitely see “Frewaka.” The story begins in 1973 at a wedding. The bride leaves the festivities and vomits as a goat watches, ignoring the calls of her brand new husband, Daithi (Michael Og Lane). Jump forward to “today” and we watch a club-footed woman dancing, alone in her apartment – then hang herself.
Shoo and her fiancée, Mila (Aleksandra Bystrzhitskaya), begin to go through the dead woman’s possessions – she was Shoo’s mother. Abruptly, Shoo agrees to take a care job for a woman in a remote village, leaving Mila to finish the task. When she gets there, a bus driver warns her to turn around and go home. Another advises her to go down the road and take a turn at the “faery tree.” She does and finds the house, but her new client will not let her in. Shoo is forced to break a window to enter.
She finally gets Pieg to settle down and gets her to bed. There, the old woman warns her that “they” are always listening – “they” live under the house and want Pieg’s soul. This sets the stage for a story of haunting, family and beings from the realm of the supernatural.
This not a jump-at-you-out-of-the-dark kind of horror movie. There is intelligence in the script by sophomore director Aislinn Clarke and does not dumb things down. The story, as it unfolds, makes you think and put the pieces together. It is a satisfying puzzle that, in the end, fits together nicely.
"Fréwaka" begins streaming on the Shudder network on 4/25/25.
