Rural Yorkshire, 1970s. Starve Acre was meant to deliver an idyllic, countryside life for Richard Willoughby (Matt Smith, House of the Dragon), his wife Juliette (Morfydd Clark, Saint Maud) and their young son Owen. Inherited from Richard's father and situated on the edge of the Moors, the rural homestead held the promise of an unburdened life, despite Richard's unhappy childhood memories there.
All of that is thrown into disarray when Owen's temperament slowly changes, robbing him of his sweet nature and delivering a cruel and changeable boy. That is just the beginning of the family's trauma. Based on the award-winning 2019 novel by Andrew Michael Hurley and written and directed by BAFTA nominee Daniel Kokotajlo (Apostasy), Starve Acre is an atmospheric British folk horror that reaches into the depths of grief and the lengths people will go to in order to find peace again.
Starve Acre is delightfully creepy and very unsettling. It is subtle and slow-burning, with the central conceit dawning far too late on the audience for them to escape its horror. There are scenes that I fear I'll never be able to scrub from my mind, specifically those involving a miniature pony and a terrifying hare. It is years since I have recoiled in horror during a film.
Curiously, the homestead Starve Acre is itself a character in the film. Looming and foreboding, it is not so much a haunted house as a seething, malevolent entity. It seems unusual that Richard would return there, given his intensely unhappy (and frankly, unsafe) childhood but the way the land calls to Richard, Juliette's visions and Owen's cruelty foreshadow the tragedy that will beset the family.
Starve Acre is a beautiful film, assuming you find stark vistas of the barren Yorkshire Moors to be aesthetically pleasing. The original score and music by Matthew Herbert (The Wonder) is a moving accompaniment, especially the arrangement of “It Hails, It Rains” in the closing credits.
There is no shame in admitting that I watched the film for Doctor Who alum Matt Smith but the whole cast including Erin Richards (Gotham) deliver fine performances and look fantastic in their folksy 70s wardrobe.
I give Starve Acre an excellent five out of five stars. Drawing on the remote and foreboding setting of the Moors, this is the best on offer in the British folk horror genre. Director Daniel Kokotajlo has delivered a stylish and atmospheric film that fans of Midsommar and folk horror will love.
★★★★★
Starve Acre will be released in UK and Irish cinemas on 6 September 2024 followed by a release on BFI Player, BFI Blu-ray and digital release on 21 October 2024.
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