Starve Acre

1970s, rural Yorkshire. Richard (Matt Smith) and Juliette Willoughby’s (Morfydd Clark) idyllic family life is thrown into turmoil when their young son Owen starts acting strangely. A tragic event drives a wedge between the once happy couple. At Starve Acre, their remote family home, academic archaeologist Richard buries himself in exploring myths relating to an ancient oak tree that once stood on their land, while Juliette turns to the local community to find some kind of peace. An unexpected discovery soon occupies the couple’s attention and uncanny forces, unwittingly allowed into their home, offer a disturbing possibility of reconnection between them. Director Daniel Kokotajlo’s follow up to Apostasy, his extraordinary debut from 2017, is a deeply atmospheric, beautifully realized and acted folk horror that deserves to be counted amongst the finest examples of the genre.