[Note: This review touches on the film’s themes of child abuse, PTSD, graphic violence, and miscarriage that may be triggering for some readers. Reader discretion is advised.]
Jamie (Douglas Booth) and his wife Maya (Hannah John-Kamen), who are expecting their first child, move to a quaint cottage in the woods bequeathed to the former by his recently deceased great-aunt Maeve. While they are both happy to escape the rough neighborhood they previously called home, it turns out they are ‘unwelcome’ even in their new safe haven. Soon trouble comes a-knocking in the form of the aggressive Whelan family whom the couple originally hire for home repairs. The Redcaps, mischievous goblins dwelling in the woods who demand a blood sacrifice every night, certainly don’t help their case either.
Different Themes and Topics are Explored
If filmmaker Jon Wright’s previous work “Grabbers” felt heavily influenced by creature features such as “Tremors,” then one can view “Unwelcome” as an allegorical work in a similar vein to “Midsommar” or “Pan’s Labyrinth.” In this movie, the real horrors are far more daunting than the imagined. It doesn’t shy from shedding light on the lesser known realm of gnarly creatures in Irish folklore (rather than the more popular, light-hearted bedtime stories of faeries and leprechauns) like the nightmarish baby-snatchers locally referred to as Far Darrig, which were also featured in fantasy works like “The Spiderwick Chronicles.”
However, the opening scene of the couple being beaten to a pulp by neighborhood thugs in their own home simply because Jamie ignored them proves to be a more chilling sight. It in fact harkens to the harrowing survival horror/thriller, “Eden Lake,” and also sets the ball rolling for more such hopeless scenarios.
The Cinematography Adds to ‘Unwelcome’s’ Foreboding
“Unwelcome” also explores themes and topics such as unaffordable housing for a growing family and PTSD the same family experiences. Furthermore, it touches upon post-colonial tensions, through intense confrontations between Jamie, an ‘Irish Briton’ (an Englishman with one-quarter Irish roots) and the edgy Whelan siblings Killian and Aisling who jeer and call out his pomposity for bragging about his mixed identity.
In later scenes, the movie openly depicts the physical and mental toll of child abuse through the old-school parenting methods of the emotionally distant Whelan patriarch (literally named as “Daddy”) who doesn’t believe in sparing the rod, and thus treats his mentally stunted son Eoin as his personal punching bag for the smallest of human errors. Brutal acts of violence and toxic masculinity are thus inculcated into his progeny.
The contrasting color palette adds to the unpredictable tone of the movie as well. The vivid bright colors of Maya’s outfits, her maternal glow, and the warmth and coziness radiating within the walls of the cottage clash with the dark and vast woods that lie beyond a secret doorway in the backyard that is home to the terrifying Far Darrig/Redcaps. Set in the remote Irish countryside, eventually the green isles also give way to something far more sinister. The blood-red skies in the bittersweet final act are foreboding.
A Folk Horror That’s Not for the Faint of Heart
John-Kamen steals the show as Maya, and her shocked/aghast reactions are enough to elevate the actor to scream queen status. Booth, on the other hand, is passable but his performance lacks in nuance. As the multidimensional Jamie who is prone to angry outbursts that lead to arguments escalating, the actor is apparently limited to just two emotions: either mild frustration or happy Golden Retriever energy which gets annoying after a while. Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Colm Meaney, Kristian Nairn, and Chris Walley are all convincingly unnerving as the Whelan family. The actors playing the Redcaps also revel in chewing scenery.
“Unwelcome” is certainly not for the faint of heart. Only watch if you’ve a stomach for graphic violence, blood, and gore…but don’t say I didn’t warn you.
*Stream Jon Wright’s “Unwelcome” on Shudder and Prime Video. Follow us for more coverage.
