I’ve been kind of the resident horror guy on this platform since I started writing reviews. Whilst I haven’t  covered every horror film that came my way I’ve critiqued a lot. Most of those releases have been homegrown  productions and I’ve said many a time that Ireland has become a sort of horror capital in European cinema. And  while this change has had its share of duds (less I say about The Cellar, the better) we’ve made strides that  could put our competition to shame.  

The thing that I feel most of these movies lacked though was a sense of cultural identity, what separates us from  the crowds of copy and paste horror flicks that lets people know it’s from here. Some films have dipped their  toes in it (Let The Wrong One In utilised the Dublin working class as well as I Am Not Your Mother) but I feel  the majority up until now has focused on replicating other countries success models (like most of Irish film in  general) instead of looking to home and trying to innovate. With two of this year’s most recent release I believe  we are coming to a breakthrough. An Taibshe which was directed by John Farrelly and released in March got a  lot of press and hype with it being the first horror movie shot entirely in the Irish language. I did not have  chance to see it on release but when I do, I’m sure I’ll be in for treat. But I did get to see the second Irish  language horror film, Aislinn Clarke’s Fréwaka.  

Colloquially translating to Roots, Fréwaka follows Dubliner Shoo (Clare Monnelly) as she cares for an ailing,  and irrationally paranoid, old woman Peig (Bríd Ní Neachtain) in a far off and forgotten part of the country.  Shoo’s just lost her mother and is denying her emotions because of the fractured relationship they had while  Peig has barricaded and boobie trapped her home from what she says are folkloric demons who kidnapped her on her wedding night 50 years prior. Both women must face their traumatic pasts head on as things around the house and village slowly become more nightmarish and delusional.  

Fréwaka is Irelands first proper steps towards Folk Horror being a viable source for the genre here. The shift  from Shoo’s city life into Peig’s old timey small Irish village could almost be seen a metaphor itself of this  land’s cinema finally looking to itself for inspiration. The performances are almost top tier, Monnelly and Ní  Neachtain play quite well off each other with the gradual progression of their relationship fitting supremely well  within the narrative. Monnelly does a lot heavy lifting here and presents pitch perfectly a woman in constant  turmoil because of the scars of her past. 

The screenplay by Clarke is so layered and textured you’d be remiss to forgive some of the overt cliché within  the plot. Whatever is rough around the edges here is made up for by weight of the themes at play. Visually there’s great lighting, great use of shadows and contrast in between scenes with the daytime becoming more and  more hostile as the film moves on. The use of language may seem at first glance pointless as the you could  argue the story being told could be told anywhere in Ireland but once again interacting with the thematic  structure of what’s at play here does nothing but benefit your experience. Cinematography gives off Wicker Man vibes in places along with the surreal dream sequences building yet another level of technical prowess. 

But for me the star of the show is the sound design. One of the biggest sins in horror is not utilising sound well  enough. Every noise be it diegetic or atmospheric does everything in its power to create dread. If you want to  make a great soundtrack for your horror movie watch Don’t Look Now, Hereditary and then this, all these  filmmakers know what they are doing. There seems to be just a little influence on Ari Aster’s part as the film’s exploration of generational trauma and its effect on our relationships is clearly prevalent throughout. But  Fréwaka separates itself by commenting on Ireland as the big perpetrator of all this. Women have always been 

forced to conform or else our society as films such as last year’s Small Things Like These proved. Clarke holds  the mirror up to us and say’s we’re still out for blood because it is ingrained in our lineage and history.  

Apart from a couple of unnecessary music cues here and there along with the more surreal sequences feeling  that could have been integrated better Fréwaka is gold star effort that shows we’re finally at home with horror  and what it can do for us within this artform. 

Rating: 4.5/5

  • Directed by: Aislinn Clarke
  • Written by: Aislinn Clarke
  • Starring: Clare Monnelly, Bríd Ní Neachtain, and Aleksandra Bystrzhitskaya
  • Runtime: 1hr 43min
  • Released:  April 25th, 2025

Review by Marcus Rochford.

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