The Facts:
Synopsis: When the daughter of the town’s new priest goes missing during the harvest festival, a desperate search begins, uncovering the town’s dark history and resurfacing tales of a mysterious, malevolent spirit that demands sacrifice.
Stars: Tuppence Middleton, Ralph Ineson, Matt Stokoe, Evie Templeton
Director: William Brent Bell
Rated: NR
Running Length: 104 minutes
TMMM Score: (4.5/10)
Review: I’ll often see quizzes online asking where you want to retire when the time comes, and of the options given, “small cottage in the British countryside” always sounds appealing. Who wouldn’t want to spend their golden years in a quaint village away from the city churn and wake to hear the sweet sounds of nature in bloom? Surrounded by forests and opting to walk into town rather than drive, you’d know your neighbors, and everyone would gather during holidays to celebrate as one. Even watching countless British miniseries featuring Miss Marple or another bookish detective solving a tidy murder hasn’t deterred me from that vision.
What gives me pause is movies like Lord of Misrule, a folk horror set in a picturesque English village harboring a dark secret. These films use the secluded setting found in off-the-beaten-path towns to their advantage, isolating characters (and the viewers) inside a nightmare of foreboding and superstition they can’t escape. Less supernatural and more tied to aspects of religion and pagan rituals, you can expect sacrifice to enter the equation in some form, and it’s best always to keep your guard up because you never know to trust completely.
The annual harvest festival is drawing near, and Evie, the daughter of Rebecca Holland, the town’s new vicar, has been selected as the Harvest Angel. Rebecca (Tuppence Middleton, Downton Abbey: A New Era) is still getting her feet wet in the village and building her flock at the local parish. While her husband (Matt Stokoe) focuses on finishing his new book, Rebecca establishes connections in the town and its expectedly eccentric characters. On the night of the festival and its revelries, Rebecca spots Evie talking to a mysterious stranger and sees him take her into the woods. Losing her way as she follows them, she realizes that her daughter has vanished into the night and reports the abduction to the local authorities, who show concern but not the level of alarm she expects.
Turning to the town for help at the next church service, Rebecca receives a message from one townsperson who stands to speak. Jocelyn Abney (Ralph Ineson, The Green Knight) lets the vicar know that Evie hasn’t vanished but has been taken by the Lord of Misrule as part of the offering for the Harvest Festival. A familiar figure in English folklore, the Lord of Misrule presides over the Feast of Fools and is chosen from the crowd. Known for encouraging merriment and endless celebration, the figure works in tandem with an evil spirit named Gallowgog in Rebecca’s village. If the villagers don’t gather every year to drive this spirit out, offering an innocent soul up in sacrifice, their crops will suffer, leading to economic ruin. Unwilling to accept that her daughter is a part of this cycle, Rebecca delves into the legacy of the Gallowgog and the village itself to locate her daughter before it is too late to save any of them…. including herself.
Directed by William Brent Bell (Orphan: First Kill) from Tom de Ville’s (The Quiet Ones) script, Lord of Misrule has a few good things going for it that keep it on a low boil. The village setting is appropriately creepy, and any time you throw in a harvest festival featuring a pile of homemade masks with unsettling faces, you are already coming out on top. The actual lore that is both exploited and created sets a nicely balanced mood to operate within, pitting our hapless vicar against a village better equipped to fight back against one person rallying against their ancient traditions. You feel the isolation of the situation, but where the film falters is in creating a sense of palpable urgency or higher stakes in any events that transpire.
Some of that is the fault of Middleton, who is a sleepy lead. There’s little call to action in this performance, and while I can see why a village would welcome her style of vicar (she’s a bit of a mournful drone in delivery), I wanted her to find some energy when the hunt for her daughter began. As much as I love Ineson, he’s done this type of role in Lord of Misrule too much at this point, and to hear him growl out his lines in that gravely brogue yet again feels less inspired than it would have had it been the first (or second, or third) occasion to do so. Despite a few kooky standouts in supporting roles, most of this cast is coasting and not providing enough support for the mystery surrounding the town to help it get to a disappointing, stale finale.
While Lord of Misrule may fail to keep the party going until the wee hours, some unusual decorations will draw you in. It is on to something in folk horror that makes it spooky enough to recommend ever so slightly, with the caveat that you’ve seen better before with fewer bells and baubles. I’d still like to retire to that tiny English village, but will do my homework beforehand to ensure they aren’t involved with any harvest festivals before I make an offer on that cottage.
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