A young caregiver is assigned to an elderly woman in the remote Irish countryside, forcing both to face their pasts and the otherworldly forces around them in Aislinn Clarke’s Irish folk horror drama.
Shioban, or preferably Shoo, is at a crossroads. Her estranged mother has died, hanging herself in a decrepit apartment, surrounded by Christian relics. She’s unsure of her future with her Ukrainian fiancée, Mila. Unable to face the memories of her abusive youth, she leaves Mila alone to clean up her life, accepting a caregiver job for Pieg, an elderly woman recovering from a stroke. Unfortunately, her inability to willingly approach her problems complicates the arrangement, as both women must face their traumatic pasts. Shoo is dealing with the memories of her maternal relationship, and Peig is first seen at her 1973 wedding, as a straw-masked group of men crash her wedding. The reason for and reverberations from this are filled in to us as the film progresses, the characters develop and connect, all while dealing with supernatural folk horror forces.
As was in writer-director Aislinn Clarke’s first film, The Devil’s Doorway, there is a strong character drama of hurt at the heart of Frewaka (an Anglicization of the Irish fréamhach, meaning “roots”, a fitting title), complicated by folk horror intrusions. The women have experienced traumas, affecting and altering their lives. Claire Monnelly and Brid Ni Neachtain give strong performances, respectively as Shoo and Pieg, playing to their hidden and known histories, their traumas, and lives. The pair share a chemistry, working well in one another’s spheres, roving in the cages they’ve built for themselves.
As the past of Pieg would indicate, Frewaka uses personal traumas to enter folk horror. I’m a fan of folk horror, rather enjoying the recent reappraisal of classics and preponderance of new films working in the style, especially in British Isles-based sources. Something particular to Irish folk horror hits me. Working on the borders of reality and the unknowable other of the dark has inherent storytelling possibilities.. It’s often unknowable, the arcane rituals and rules just out of the protagonist’s and audience’s understanding, making every move dangerous and untrustworthy. Perhaps folk horror of late may have familiar beats and expectations, but when done well, it still lands with a beautiful unease. Frewaka does work within expected parameters, but Clarke’s film works nonetheless.
Shoo is given warnings to avoid the house for being too close to the other world, strange shapes are moving, and an uncertain reality prevails. But there are questions. Peig has dementia. How much of the strangeness she’s reporting is true? Like Shoo’s mother, Peig surrounds herself with relics. When her rituals are interrupted or not followed when asked of Shoo, oddities occur. We question what’s behind the bright red door. Shoo is on uneven footing; is she truly experiencing the supernatural, or is she affected by her mental state? For instance, is the strange acting agency woman just peculiar in her methods, or is she an evil faerie, as Pieg suggests? The uncertainty of it all is incredibly interesting.
The aspects of esoteric understanding of what’s happening are made to work by the sophistication of Clarke’s direction in pulling the film together. Production designer Nicola Moroney and cinematographer Narayan Van Maele create a disused, attractive world in decay. Decrepit, rotting locations are a draw to me just as much as folk horror. No matter how the film turns out, a well-done production design to create a folk horror, falling-apart setting will draw me in. But Clarke makes full use of the locations in and around the manor. The said building, the just-too-empty town (with its off-kilter “hiding a secret” residences) with several buildings covered in vines, and the ethereal fairy tree between them build the unearthly world and tone.
Like in The Devil’s Doorway, Aislinn Clarke can compel with unnerving storytelling despite the story threatening to veer into the rote. She has a strong directorial touch, after a pair of effective if not familiar horror dramas. I‘d love to see branching out, maybe working with a bigger budget. She has a great talent. A side note for the film: it is mostly in Irish, a great touch. I wasn’t sure how to work that into the main text, but I want you (yes YOU) to know.
Frewaka presents many of the standards of folk horror, but does so in a very well-made film. Strong performances by Clare Monnelly and Brid Ni Neachtain embody solid characterization. The technical design of the film is impeccable. Frewaka will certainly work for those who go for character-driven folk horror.