A horror set during the industrial revolution sees “Gwen” try and hold her family together in this unnerving film. This is the directing and writing feature debut of William McGregor (“His Dark Materials”) set in the countryside Wales, swapping the East for the West.
“Gwen” follows the young girl (Eleanor Worthington Cox, “Maleficent”) trying to keep her family’s land from angry villagers, all while her mother (Maxine Peake, “The Theory of Everything”) is taken by a mysterious illness, which sees her lose her mind and even slit her wrist.
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McGregor spoke about ‘Gwen’ in an interview with PopMatters, and said about why he set it as a horror, “If I am going to sit in the cinema, I want an intense experience, and I like being scared. I just have a love for the uncanny and dread, and I feel this story.” He also spoke of being a fan of folk horror films, and ‘Gwen’ feels vaguely similar to the 2004 cult classic folk horror “The Village” directed by M. Night Shyamalan.
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He also said that he made a film that he would watch, explaining, “So I just wanted to make a film that I would want to go and see. It’s definitely not a comedy, but I think if you look at something like ‘Chernobyl‘ — and I am not in any way comparing ‘Gwen’ to ‘Chernobyl’ — but my experience of watching it is that it’s incredibly cathartic, despite the fact that it’s incredibly horrific. That’s the kind of fear that I’m drawn to, and so I think I’ve made a film that is something I want to see.”
The project will feature a cast including Richard Harrington (“Poldark”), Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (“Doctor Strange”) and Mark Lewis Jones (‘Chernobyl’).
Here is the synopsis:
Gwen is a young girl desperately trying to hold her home together – struggling with her mother’s mysterious illness, her father’s absence and a ruthless mining company encroaching on their land. As a growing darkness begins to take grip of her home, the local community grows suspicious and turns on Gwen and her family.
‘Gwen’ will hit theaters and be available on demand August 16. You can watch the trailer below.
