Gwen (2018) Review – A Hauntingly Beautiful Study of Folk-Horror Dread

Welcome to Knockout Horror. We are off to North Wales for our horror movie review today as we take a look at William McGregor’s Gwen from 2018.

The Witch lite

Gwen follows the story of the titular character Gwen, played by Eleanor Worthington-Cox, and her family. Gwen, her sister Mari, and her mother Elen, played by Maxine Peake live on land that the local mining company wants. Refusing to move, their lives spiral into chaos as Elen becomes seemingly unwell while their father is away. Elen’s increasingly bizarre behaviour hints at something potentially sinister. The suspicious villagers begin to ostracise the family and things become more and more desperate.

“If tension, bleakness, and a foreboding atmosphere can qualify something as a horror movie, then Gwen is a horror movie. It is a stunningly shot story of domestic collapse.”

Gwen is, potentially, the least “horror” of the drama heavy horror movies I have reviewed lately. It has virtually no scares outside of some atmospheric night time scenes. If tension, bleakness, and a foreboding atmosphere can qualify something as a horror movie, then Gwen is a horror movie. If actual scares, horror related themes, and a commitment to unsettling the viewer are necessary, then Gwen is clearly not a horror movie.

It’s stunningly shot but acts as something of a story of domestic collapse more than anything. If you can take the middle bits of The Witch and remove the supernatural stuff, you would have Gwen. It can, at times, be quite compelling. The struggle is easy to sympathise with and there’s enough scenery watching to make it a real treat. It follows a very familiar path, though. The family head to church, the villagers act strange toward them, the crops fail, the mining company harasses them, rinse and repeat. The horror comes in the form of the lingering suggestion that Elen might actually be a witch. It’s just not scary, though.

With that being said, this movie won’t be for all horror fans. Plenty of people genuinely enjoy slow burn drama with minor horror elements. Gwen is an average drama that makes for a fairly effective and atmospheric horror. It’s not going to appeal to all horror fans but works fairly well.

Gwen is extremely dark and melancholy

If you plan on watching Gwen, I would suggest you grab a fun movie to watch after or even before. Perhaps watch it after watching Happy Death Day. Gwen is a relentlessly bleak movie. It’s slow pace, dreary atmosphere, and depressing story will likely leave you feeling somewhat drained and, maybe even, a little unhappy.

Gwen makes no attempts at pleasing the viewer. Its misery and melancholy is the backbone of its story and it refuses to give it up even for a minute. We are dropped in right as the situation is escalating. The family have tragedy in their past and things are only going to get worse. Events escalate day by day and there isn’t a single minute where the atmosphere is anything other than hostile and oppressive.

This devotion to sadness and misery is, perhaps, Gwen‘s biggest, and only, selling point as a horror movie. Some people love to indulge in the thick greyness of a depressing movie. Gwen offers this in spades. There are no compromises made for the sake of the viewer. This is something that could be appealing to certain viewers. Fans of classic horror such as The Wicker Man, Straw Dogs, and The Thing may enjoy Gwen‘s “take no prisoners” approach to delivering gloom.

A beautifully shot movie

Gwen is an absolutely stunning movie to look at. William McGregor has crafted something wonderful. I actually had to come back and edit this section as I feel I originally understated it. While taking screenshots I was reminded about how incredible some of the scenes are. It is fantastic and was genuinely hard to pick just a few shots to feature in the review. Whether it is scenery or character closeups, Gwen is a beautiful film. I would almost recommend it based purely on that alone.

The gorgeous scenery of the Welsh hills sets the stage tremendously. The imposing greyness and fog present adds to the atmosphere. The location evidently traps the weather and the darkness of the night is utilised incredibly well. The shoot was apparently hampered by rain, fog, wind, and snow but it was clearly worth it as the scenery is the star of the film.

“The gorgeous scenery of the Welsh hills sets the stage tremendously. The imposing greyness and fog add to the atmosphere. The scenery is the real star of the film.”

Cinematography is excellent. Both indoor and outdoor shots are framed with care and finesse. The director perfectly captures the moodiness of the environment and some of the night time shots are fantastic. Lighting is excellent, sets look authentic and the clothes are very fitting for the time period. If nothing else, Gwen is a hauntingly beautiful movie on par with, or better than, most other period folk horror.

Gwen’s acting is great overall

Eleanor Worthington-Cox is exceptional. Tasked with carrying the whole movie on her back as the titular Gwen, she does a fantastic job. Eleanor is emotive and has some fantastic dramatic chops. She slips between playing affectionately with her little sister and screaming like a banshee seamlessly. A lesser actor would have dragged this movie down dramatically. Eleanor Worthington-Cox, without question, elevates it. I hope she goes on to have a fantastic career. She did a nice job with the accent, as well, only slipping a few times.

Additionally, Maxine Peake as Elen, Gwen’s Mother, is excellent. She is every bit the stern matriarch, hardened by a difficult life and an unforgiving environment. Once again, great job with the accent. Everyone else is somewhere between great and average. Eleanor Worthington-Cox takes so much of the focus that it is hard to stand out next to her.

“Eleanor Worthington-Cox is exceptional, elevating the movie with a powerful performance. Gwen is a hauntingly beautiful film on par with the best period folk horror.”

I felt as though the youngest daughter could have used some better direction. I couldn’t help but notice how distracted and disinterested she looked. Her reactions were almost never appropriate for the scene. She’s a kid so it’s not her fault, it is squarely on the director to motivate her. There’s no possible way she could understand the subject matter.

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Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.

A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.

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