Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Wendy Ide

Unwelcome review – Irish folk horror that’s away with the fairies

Hannah John-Kamen in Unwelcome
If you go down to the woods … Hannah John-Kamen in Unwelcome. Warner Bros/Allstar Photograph: Warner Bros/Allstar

The latest addition to the rich seam of Irish folk horror – films such as You Are Not My Mother and The Hallows, which tap into the earthy regional mythology of malicious fae folk – Unwelcome takes a thuddingly basic approach to the “far darrig”, or little people, before unravelling into a wigged-out Hammer Horror-style climax in search of a coherent ending.

Pregnant Maya (Hannah John-Kamen) and her husband, Jamie (Douglas Booth), are understandably spooked by a violent home invasion in their London apartment. So when Jamie inherits a cottage in rural Ireland, it seems like the perfect solution. Jamie is enraged by the lackadaisical timekeeping of the builders, but Maya realises they have other, smaller problems. The unnerving high-pitched giggling from the woods and the requirement for daily “blood offerings” to the little people probably should have been a giveaway. The picture works better when it keeps its monsters hidden, but swiftly descends into silliness once the far darrig show their ugly muppet faces.

Watch a trailer for Unwelcome.
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.