Fréwaka - My IFFI Experience and Movie Review

Fréwaka is a film released in August 2024. It is an Irish film in English and Irish, which is about an hour and 43 minutes long.

Synopsis

Haunted by a personal tragedy, home care worker Shoo is sent to a remote village to care for an agoraphobic woman who fears the neighbours as much as she fears the Na Sídhe - sinister entities who she believes abducted her decades before. As the two develop a strangely deep connection, Shoo is consumed by the old woman's paranoia, rituals and superstitions, eventually confronting the horrors from her own past.

Director - Aislinn Clarke

Pic screenshot from site

OVERALL SUMMARY - SPOILER

Fréwaka is a film that initially stuck out as promising in the horror genre. Unfortunately, I was disappointed because it did not live up to my expectations of horror and most importantly it did not do justice to an international stage. Let me explain...

I am a person who has watched a lot of movies in this genre. In saying this, I expect to be at the very least spooked. However, in this case, I was not in the least terrified. I was creeped out a bit, yes, with the occassional chill but nothing more. The cigarette-smelling, sneezing guy beside me kept looking in my direction to see whether I was scared.

After the movie, I watched some videos of the famous Irish storyteller Eddie Lenihan and looked up some other material for a better understanding. I also watched an interview with the director on YouTube about this movie and realised that unless you know something about Irish folklore, you are left wondering about so many parts of the movie. For me, instead of walking away somewhat satisfied, I left with so many loose ends not understanding the whats and the whys. I understand the 'Show, Don't tell' part, but when you are dealing with an international audience, I think it is vital to have a bit more of both for them to fully get the point of the movie.

The director Aislinn Clarke, did a nice job with the sound effects and scenes, history of the land, beliefs, myths, supersititions, etc. The author in her interview was very passionate about the genre, movies in general and most importantly she wanted to showcase her culture and the everything that comes with it like the fairies, the old houses, the language, the blend of religion into the culture, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFSBGyAUb8Q

In the movie, initially there is a scene of a person hanging herself and then a couple Siubhán (Clare Monnelly) also known as Shoo along with her pregnant fiancee Mila (Aleksandra Bystrzhitskaya) go to the same house. It was Shoo's mother’s place and they are there to do the difficult part of sorting her stuff after she took her own life. Shoo does not take too much interest as she had an bad relationship with her abusive mother and did not care if anything from the house was retained or not.

Due to a lack of money, Shoo accepts a job as a caretaker for an elderly lady Peig (Bríd Ní Neachtain) who is paranoid, delusional and hallucinates or so the report mentions. They needed someone who spoke Irish and the job was in the countryside. After a bad start, Shoo starts to gain the trust of Peig. Shoo also has a few moments where she feels she is being watched and hears some creepy noises. Some of the voices seem to be in her head. A door to the cellar which was always locked seemed to be the doorway to the unknown evil. Peig also warns Shoo about the house and the people that Shoo cannot help but believe as she too has some strange encounters at the house and outside with people and her surroundings.

There are these random happenings with no explanation, like trees with stuff hanging on them and candles lit beneath, a goat (which appears so many times), village people who all seem to be a threat, a creepy kid and a lot of statues of the Virgin Mary, the crucifix and other religious pictures and prayers which are obviously Catholic.

TICKLED MY FANCY (HIGHLIGHTS)

• The actors were good.

• Irish history, traditions and folklore were intentionally weaved into the story and I am all for learning history and new cultures.

• The scenes from the countryside were breathtaking.

• The sound effects did their job of stirring chills in me in some parts.

A WORD OF CAUTION (LOWLIGHTS)

• As I mentioned before, this is not for an international audience who have no clue about the culture, superstitions, myths, etc. A little more insight in the form of dialogue would have been a great help.

• I came out more confused than ever, and not in a good way. It was certainly not an Alfred Hitchcock like ending which would tie up loose ends and leave the rest to the imagination.

• The end showed Shoo going down to the cellar dressed in a gown and then onto some beautiful green path and onto a hill where she is looking at some human figure with horns standing in a distance, and her eyes turn bloodshot at the end. One can only imagine what is being conveyed, but the point of all that left me with a question mark above my head.

• The build-up of sounds ended up being just that... loud sounds that are meant to build suspense and give you the creeps.

  
  

My overall rating is a 4 out of 10.