I’m on a bit of a folk horror kick, so Starve Acre immediately caught my attention.  Every year around this time, I start getting a craving for dark stories of people where they shouldn’t be, messing with forces of nature they don’t understand. This one is based on a novel, and stars Matt Smith, so I was immediately interested

• Directed by: Daniel Kokotajlo
• Written By: Daniel Kokotajlo Andrew Michael Hurley
• Starring: Matt Smith. Morfydd Clark. Arthur Shaw

Review and Recap: Spoilers Ahead

From the start, Starve Acre is uncomfortable and hard to watch. What should be relaxing, and beautiful scenery is moody and ominous.  Parents Juliette and Richard are dealing with their strange and violent son, Owen. He’s been complaining about hearing whistling and seems quietly odd.  An extreme act of violence at a children’s fair forces his parents to seek more extreme, professional help.

Richard seems to be in some level of denial.  Not because he doesn’t believe in mental illness, but because he believes if he loves and supports his son enough, he can help him. But at the doctor’s, Juliette comes out and says she thinks he’s hearing voices, putting a name to it: Jack Grey.  Everything is awkward and evasive, with the doctor refusing to answer questions directly about Owen’s condition. Richard blames the neighbor, Gordon, for filling Owen’s head with stories of magic, and tells Juliette that “Jack Grey” is a story that his dad made up to torment him.

The land they’re living on is his family’s. It was the home of a giant tree that was used in rituals and written about in local folklore. It’s long been a goal of Richard’s to find the roots of the oak tree to further his research.  He doesn’t seem to believe the legends of the tree are real. 

The eerie shots of trees and branches, cut with beating hearts, tell us otherwise. 

Richard and Owen

Richard is teaching a class on Druids and how sophisticated they were. There is conflict in his department over seniority and modern analysis. Old vs new is present in his dealings with the university he teaches at; he has minor struggles with the older professor and conflict over approach.  

Richard takes Owen out to teach him about the land they were on and its history, including the roots of the oak tree that was central to the people of the village.  He doesn’t believe in magic or superstitions and discourages Owen from doing so. They decide to look for the roots of the tree together. 

Juliette talks to Gordon about Owen’s behavior. Gordon knows Richard’s family and the history. He has a lot of compassion for Richard and the horrible way his father treated him. 

Richard and Owen spend time together, while something watches them from the woods. This is such a lovely family that it’s going to be hard to watch the terrible things that are going to happen to them. 

There is so much dread in the scenes of pastoral beauty. At no point does the family feel safe at home, no matter how lush and green the land is.

Wish I had Read The Novel First

Starve Acre becomes true horror at just over twenty minutes into the runtime. In the aftermath, Richard cleans his father’s study, only to discover hidden journals that show his father tried to sacrifice him as a child. We’re only starting to understand how bad this situation will become.

Generational trauma, familial guilt, and folk horror go well together. We’re never as far removed from our past as we want to be, regardless of if that past is 6 months, six years, or six hundred. 

As the grieving parents grapple with mourning, they process the resentment and anger that comes along with it.  Anger at themselves, each other, and at the difficulties that Owen struggled with. 

They mourn alone, isolated by the separate knowledge and experiences they hold. But they’re also isolated by something darker that has started to affect Juliette. She seems prone to staring out at the scenery, lost in thought or mesmerized. Even the presence of her sister, Harrie, isn’t enough to break her out of it.

Everything Seems Wrong

Gordon sems to be aware that something has gone wrong. He brings a woman, Mrs. Forde, to help. Gordon and Richard finally talk, and Gordon tells him he never mentioned Jack Grey to Owen. Gordon seems to want to help, but Richard has a lot of resentment from his childhood, and he sends Gordon away, using him to vent some of the anger at his father. 

The woman seems to be a type of medium, trying to help Julia with her grief, or helping Owen pass on. It’s not a comforting scene. No matter how much the woman insists that Owen has moved on, she’s not convincing. 

After expressing his disbelief at Mrs. Forde and her séance, Richard reexamines bones he’s excavated from his land, only to discover what looks to be living tissue growing on them. Outside his land, the tissue vanishes. When he checks the skeleton later, it’s regrowing muscle. We’re suddenly going into a very Pet Semetary kind of direction. This is the evilest rabbit I have ever seen. It’s filmed well, with the ears visually representing horns. 

In the weirdest sentence I’ll write this week, resurrecting and releasing the rabbit helps Richard and Julia reconnect. Richard tells Juliette about how his father would try to murder him as a sacrifice.  Richard wanted to heal himself by giving his son a better life. When he returned home without dealing with the trauma of the past, it just invited more misery. This is another version of old vs new. Richard tried to move to his new life without resolving the past.  It doesn’t work. 

The Roots

When he finally finds the roots of the tree, they also reveal the ritual, and the story starts to tie everything together.  “Dandelion Jack” (or Jack Grey, also, the bunny) can restore their family, in a fashion, if they complete the ritual.  More sacrifice is needed. 

Gordon shows up to let the sister know what’s going on. Jack took Owen as a sacrifice. He couldn’t choose Richard, because Richard’s dad didn’t love him enough. Jack has now chosen Juliette to raise him?  She kills Richard’s coworker as part of the sacrifice, but they’re still short one woman.  Juliette choses to complete the ritual, and Richard kills her sister. The sacrifices are significant as Julia kills off Richard’s connection to the world, his job, by murdering his coworker, and he in turn eliminates hers, her sister.  At the end, they have their new family. 

How Far Would You Go?

There are differing but aligning agendas with Gordon, Mrs. Foote, and the grieving family. While Gordon’s motivations aren’t giving much space, there is enough surrounding him to form some theories. He’s representative of the old ways; villagers still faithful to rituals and rites long out of favor.  He presents himself as a good person, but he’s been using Richard’s family from the beginning, waiting for the right combination of love, loss, and guilt to trigger his god’s return.  

Richard and Juliette would sacrifice their normal lives to fix their regrets. Not for Owen, he’s gone and there’s no indication that the rabbit is him in any form. They believe he can help, but the movie is light on details there. Or, I was so caught up in the mood I missed it.

In the reviews I checked out, I saw some discussion over whether Starve Acre is really a horror movie. I know I’ve been a mite judgmental of movies in the past labeling themselves as horror, when they really feel more like supernatural drama.  In all honesty, that has more to do with deceptive marketing than anything else. 

Starve Acre is, in my eyes, folk horror; ancient dark rituals, the rural setting with foreboding scenery, and land that holds long-buried supernatural secrets.  There are violent sacrifices and a continuing struggle between old and new.  It’s just in this one, old wins.  It’s probably fair to say that “new” never really had much of a chance. 

Is it Any Good?

There is a lot going on that doesn’t get fully explored. The first act moves quickly and then the pacing slows from there.  The audience can piece together why things unraveled the way they did, and the cause of Owen’s strange behavior, but by the time the movie ends, it feels like none of that matters much. But what we’re left with is horrific and disturbing enough.

Which is part of the larger, hinted-at narrative. Juliette and Richard aren’t resurrecting Owen, so much as they are replacing him with a more ideal version of him:  a docile-seeming rabbit child who seeks them out. Owen is forgotten in the back half of the movie, other than as the source of the guilt they are desperate to alleviate. That’s not necessarily a flaw, but it hints at some character elements that could be further explored.

Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark deliver powerful impactful performances as the parents. Post-Doctor Who, Smith has chosen interesting and meaty roles. Aside from Morbius, and I think we can agree he was the best part of that disaster, he’s once again the standout performer. That’s in large part due to the conflict his character is given. Clark’s Juliette is much more straightforward in her grieving and determination to restore her family by any means necessary. She does a fantastic job with it, but there’s just less material to work with. 

Final Thoughts

Starve Acre is not going to be for everyone. It’s slow and thoughtful, spending more time on the grieving process and the horror that loss brings. Weaving folklore through this tale highlights the specific pain family can bring, by reinforcing themes of past trauma. If you are looking for intense jump scares and overt supernatural thrills, Starve Acre may not be for you. If you are looking for moody, thoughtful horror, there’s a lot to appreciate here. 

Starve Acre is available now on streaming:

Read other new movie reviews here:

• Heart Eyes
• The Monkey