This dark Australian folk-horror splices together several evergreen genre tropes in a fresh take on the perils of going down to the woods and discovering some unwelcome surprises.

Following the death of her estranged, abusive father, Grace (Meg Eloise-Clarke) returns to her old home to discover that her brother David is missing. After she learns that local people living on the streets are being swept up and relocated to a cultish commune deep in the woods, she hires former teacher Mr Green (Leighton Cardno) to be her reluctant guide. But once they’re far from civilisation, Grace’s quest unravels and – injured and alone – she discovers the horrifying truth of what’s lurking beneath the forest canopy.

Writer-director Joseph Sims-Dennett extends the familiar beats of a camping trip gone awry, with some impressionistic, dissociative sequences which – together with the out-of-sequence timeline – make the viewer question what Grace is really experiencing. The film’s cinematography is impressive throughout and, while there are plenty of sweeping drone shots of the verdant forest, it’s the handheld torchlit visuals of a hyperventilating Grace in the nighttime woods that deliver the nerve-jangling tension. An edgy musical score and some punchy sound design help to land The Banished’s most unnerving moments.

But the film’s pacing is sluggish at times, some plot points are left hanging, and in the third act there are some major tonal lurches – first as things turn unexpectedly and viscerally violent, and then as Sims-Dennett adds some ethereal mysticism by way of explanation. This leaves the build-up and the resolution feeling disconnected. Kudos to Eloise-Clarke though, who, in a committed performance, spends most of the movie in a state of breathless panic.

THE BANISHED is released on digital streaming platforms in the UK on July 28th.