The Irish horror film sweeping festivals: "Fear is no longer blood and tits."

Horror is a genre that's sometimes so maligned that it's impossible not to wonder what makes a film good. Should it surprise? Yes. Scare? Logically. Does it base its effects on music? Sometimes, too much. While there are a number of elements that tend to be repeated in all films of this genre, there are still films that have the ability to surprise, even if only a little. This is the case with Fréwaka , a 2024 Irish film that arrived this past Friday on Filmin and combines horror, folk horror , and drama.

The story has all the makings of a bedtime story. A nursing student ( Clare Monnelly ), whose mother, obsessed with Virgin Mary figurines and lockets, has just committed suicide (an important detail), must travel to a remote village to care for an elderly woman who has recently suffered a stroke and is living in seclusion ( Bríd Ní Neachtain ). As soon as she arrives home, strange and disturbing things begin to happen, as the woman is obsessed with the idea that Aes Side kidnapped her on her wedding night and that he will return. The nurse doesn't believe her, even though paranormal events are constantly occurring in the house. Aes Side is the Irish term for a supernatural race from Irish and Scottish mythology , comparable to fairies or elves, who live in an invisible world that coexists with that of humans.

Directing is Aislinn Clarke, a specialist in a genre like horror that until very recently was considered predominantly male (albeit with female protagonists, there 's a reason the stereotype of the final girl exists ). The director has not only chosen elements of Irish folklore , but practically the entire film is shot in that language, which is a risky decision. There are a lot of goats and neighbors in the rural community that don't exactly inspire you to want to spend time in Ireland . In any case, it's already been dubbed the Irish Midsommar , which is a compliment, and it has been praised at various festivals ( Sitges and Locarno ). We spoke with its creator.

"The story comes... from my childhood," Aislinn Clarke tells this newspaper, referring to the folklore that colors the entire film. "I grew up in an Irish-speaking area, so we heard a lot of traditional stories . This kind of children's folklore and mythology has always interested me, and it can be terrifying if it wants to be. That's why the film is shot in Irish, because I wanted the story to somehow be born from my relationship with the language and with those stories that I always found so disturbing, the ones I was told in school. That kind of folklore is as if it appeals directly to our emotions, to supernatural things that have always been with us."

"I always found those Irish folklore stories very disturbing. I was told them in school."

Although the Catholic religion also plays a prominent role in the film, it's used to create fear (as is common in the horror genre). There are crucifixes and figures of Virgin Marys that glow in the dark. "Well, in Ireland, Catholicism has been very present for centuries, but here, too, it's a strange religion, with many pagan elements ," Clarke reflects. "I think that's also happening in Spain, where the film is also being very well received. In my case, I was interested in the mix of religious and ancestral elements : images of the Virgin Mary, the small rituals that people used to do to heal themselves... all of that has become intertwined. It's very difficult to separate what comes from where. That mix seemed fascinating and real to me."

Clarke has directed other horror films (The Devil's Doorway, Childer ...) so she doesn't agree that horror is a man's thing (Julia Ducournau - Titane - and Coralie Fargeat - The Substance - would agree with her): "I think the industry assumed that horror was a man's thing," she points out. "I remember that in film schools they even told you that you had to have a 'tits and blood' moment in every film, as if it were a formula. But thanks to streaming , you can see data that shows that the main audience for this type of content is women. This has given us space to tell different stories, like It Follows , which has a very feminine approach . I think now people are realizing that there are other possible perspectives."

Perhaps that's why all the characters in the film are women, although Clarke assures that it wasn't a deliberate decision: "Interestingly, I didn't consciously think about it. The story required women because it's about brides and what it means to get married. I didn't consider making a film with only women as a statement of intent; it was simply what the story called for. But it's true that we're used to seeing films like John Carpenter's The Thing, where there are only men, and that's not questioned. On the other hand, when there are only women , it seems that it has to be justified. For me, it was simply an honest and functional choice."

" By shooting it in Irish , I consciously knew I was going to have a smaller audience, especially with a minority language," she explains. "But for me, it was liberating because the film was almost entirely funded by the television channel TG4, which only broadcasts in Irish. So the entire crew spoke the language, and the approach was completely different. We didn't have to adapt to a commercial logic. That gave me the freedom to tell the story honestly, and interestingly, it also reached non-native speakers in the end. I think people have always enjoyed foreign films, whether they're in Spanish, Japanese, Korean ... language isn't a real barrier. But I didn't think it would go this far and that it would perform so well at festivals. I just wanted to be true to myself, to the language, to the stories of my childhood, and to my culture. I had no expectations. People felt very connected to the story. It's very beautiful."

"People have always enjoyed foreign films, whether in Spanish, Japanese, Korean… language isn't a real barrier."

So, the final pertinent question is the one that opens the article: What makes a film scary, and therefore good? Clarke smiles: "Good question. I think it depends on the viewer. Some people are scared by very specific things, but for me the scariest thing is when you're trying to communicate something that can't be put into words, like that feeling you get when you wake up from a nightmare and it's impossible to explain. I try to make the viewer feel what I felt. The music in this is key. The composer is a genius at conveying emotions. For me, horror is that: communicating the inexplicable ."