There is a great deal of gloomy foreboding contained within Natasha Kermani’s Gothic horror The Dreadful. With her husband away at war, Anne (Sophie Turner) and her overbearing mother-in-law, Morwen (Marcia Gay Harden), eke out a poverty-stricken existence on the fringes of the local village; times are hard, and, despite her piety, Morwen must indulge in a little petty thievery to supplement the scant morsels of food they are able to grow.
Their lives are a daily grind of desperate prayer and under-cooked vegetables, with Anne forlornly awaiting news of her husband. Then, when childhood friend Jago (Kit Harington) turns up cheerily humming a tune and full of amorous intent, the film moves off in a different direction entirely.
Before you know it, Morwen has transitioned from petty thief to premeditated murderer, Jago and Anne have embarked upon an ill-advised affair, and a mysterious dark knight has begun roaming the woods lopping off people’s heads. There’s a lot going on.
And that’s the real issue. None of the threads ever really tie together. There is talk of a curse, but it’s unclear what that relates to, while Morwen’s actions carry no weight or apparent consequence. Ambiguity is all well and good, but here nothing is explained, and you’re left wondering what it was all for.
There is a great deal of promise at the outset, and the medieval world Kermani has created is so rich with texture that the mud virtually oozes from the screen. Sadly, however, it’s a little superficial, and the film withers away to a dull and unsatisfactory ending.
THE DREADFUL is released in US cinemas, on demand, and on digital on February 20th.
