Lord of Misrule (2023) Review
Lord of Misrule (2023) Review
Rebecca Holland has recently taken over as vicar of a rural English village. When her young daughter Grace goes missing at the local festival, the villagers and local police join in a desperate search. However, the closer they edge towards finding Grace, the more secrets emerge from the village’s dark past. Soon, Rebecca must decide just how much she is willing to sacrifice to rescue her daughter from the grip of evil.
From William Brent Bell, director of ORPHAN: FIRST KILL, comes this middling and lacklustre British folk horror. LORD OF MISRULE plays out like a greatest hits compilation of folk horror’s usual tropes and consequently it fails to engage or shock in the way that the likes of MIDSOMMAR or the original THE WICKER MAN did with aplomb.
The performances are one-note throughout and there are moments that beggar belief – Rebecca (Tuppence Middleton) slaps a young girl hard across her face, then the same girl talks away to Rebecca as if nothing violent occurred. The same could be said for the scene where that girl’s father grabs Rebecca by the throat, only, again for both, to chat away after like nothing shocking has just occurred.
It’s all surface and no depth and consequently the viewer remains disengaged from what unfolds onscreen. Horror fans will find no surprises here and only grow fidgety as it reaches its predictable climax. Moments that should shock – such as an elderly lady deciding to pee in full view of others – don’t, because not only have we seen it before, but we’ve seen it done better – THE EXORCIST’s Regan did the same to greater effect back in 1973. Elsewhere we see a mother and daughter facing off against a large beast and again, we are only reminded of a similar face-off in another classic movie, this time 1986’s ALIENS.
Recent TV series THE BURNING GIRLS tapped into the same gothic, folk-horror-driven vein and delivered the goods with impeccable acting, a twisting narrative, emotional heft, and surprises galore. Arriving in the wake of such top-drawer entertainment LORD OF MISRULE had a lot to compete with, unfortunately it instead flounders in its wake.
TRAILER
Signature Entertainment presents Lord of Misrule on Digital Platforms 8th January
https://www.facebook.com/SignatureEntertainmentUK/videos/313455488270193/
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