Aesthetically speaking, slow burn horror Starve Acre looks stunning. Taking a page from many other movies in the so-called “elevated horror” oeuvre, writer/director Daniel Kokotajlo attempts a subtler, more methodical approach to the devilish underpinnings locked within. Doctor Who star Matt Smith leads a trio of performers as the father to a boy one could easily confuse with The Omen‘s Damien. At first, it seems that we will follow along in the footsteps of similar disturbing children flicks before Kokotajlo makes a drastic detour. Based on the equally baffling novel by Andrew Michael Hurley, Starve Acre takes altogether too long in establishing its folklore, leading to an abrupt ending that is more of a whimper than a bang.
In recent days, little Owen (Arthur Shaw) has been acting rather questionably indeed. After an incident that ends in a suffering horse losing an eyeball, Owen’s parents are forced into action. They begin to seek help for Owen’s aggression, hoping for a solution to his strange behavior. Juliette (Morfydd Clark, Crawl, Netflix’s Dracula) thinks Owen has been influenced by a strange voice inside his head. Referred to as “Jack Grey,” Owen says that Jack has been whispering to him. Richard (Smith), on the other hand, suspects their strange neighbor, Gordon (Sean Gilder, Mary & George, Penny Dreadful) has been influencing Owen with his stories. Richard shifts his focus on unpacking the “why” but not the “how” of their very real predicament.
The initial setup shows glimmers of promise, especially considering the strength of performances from Smith and Clark. A tragedy occurs early on that changes the trajectory of the rest of the film completely. Richard devotes himself to figuring out what is going on with the strange tree on his land, and how it connects to Owen. Being his family’s property, the secrets Richard discovers may reverberate for generations. Throw in a weird animalistic skeleton, an oversized, red-eyed bunny rabbit, and innumerable pages of folklore, and one will have already parsed through basically everything Starve Acre has on offer. It is all a meditation on grief, or maybe the message runs deeper than that, as the script dances in circles of metaphorical realism.
Dipping toes into the supernatural, I was still left wanting more from the threadbare story. Juliette has little to do, with her practical sister, Harrie (Erin Richards, Gotham, The Quiet Ones), doing most of the heavy lifting. Richard fares slightly better, considering his history with the property and its bizarre tree. Little of worth happens during the runtime, which is sure to frustrate horror aficionados. That said, this Wicker Man wannabe may not be a total misfire. Much ado can be made for the ominous music and eerie atmosphere, and the very concept of sacrificial rituals are unnerving beyond reproach. Smith, in particular, gets to showcase his emotional range. The eventual ending barely manages to satisfy on any level though, only barely eeking out a chilling final frame before abruptly ending. The book was released two different times with two different endings, calling into question its creator’s intent in the first place in depicting this puzzling narrative. Tonally confusing and slowly-paced to a fault, Starve Acre tries slow burn folk horror, but gets lost in its own convoluted mythology along the way.
Dig a hole through the strange mythology of Starve Acre, exclusively in theaters on Friday, July 26th.
