We are at the end of folk horror week for this Horrortoberfest and I saved the one I was most looking forward to for last. I love a movie with a good capgras syndrome theme because it’s one of the most terrifying mental disorders to me. Believing that those closest to you have somehow been replaced is absolutely fucked and a classic idea all the way back to the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It’s also holiday appropriate.

Char is a teenage girl that lives with her mom, Angela, and her Grandma in Dublin, Ireland. While she is a bright and excellent student, her mom is suffering from severe depression and can barely manage to get out of bed to take her daughter to school. When she goes missing one late October day and her car is found abandoned in a field, people obviously assume the worst has happened. Imagine their relief when she returns the following day seeming no worse for wear and maybe even doing a bit better than she was. Something isn’t quite right with Angela, though. It’s not just the change in disposition but there is something wrong with her can’t be set right with bedrest and antidepressants.

I loved this movie and how extremely uncomfortable it made me. The acting in it is great and is mostly a younger cast with Hazel Doupe as Char putting in a solid performance but it’s Carolyn Bracken as Angela that steals the show. The way she moves from depression to mania to a slow and simmering hatred is an absolute wonder to watch. You could easily excise the more supernatural ideas of changelings and folk magic and have a gripping, tragic story about a family struggling with mental illness. Which isn’t to say I would want that because I far prefer to have my sad, fucked up stories also include some monsters so there’s something you can actually fight back against. If only all mental illness were able to be fought off with fire and blades.

The folk horror aspects are fully in the Granny’s keeping of the old ways and not so much in the standard structure of a stranger intruding on a frightening rural presence. Instead it is the frightening presence making someone into a stranger. This is a movie that does not have much in the way of gore and kills but it makes up for that with some truly unsettling moments that might not have you jumping in fright but will definitely leave you tensed. So much of how this is shot is so well done to make things feel uneasy, even when nothing is happening. The mother’s bedroom door is always slightly ajar and dark in the room so that you can’t see anything but the reflection of the mirror on the wall. Every time Char has to walk past it you just get unnerved even before anything starts to pop off.

I recommend the movie and the fact that it’s set during Halloween makes it a great one to watch for the holiday season as well.

Score: 4.5 out of 5