Starve Acre

Richard (Matt Smith), an archaeologist, and his wife Jules (Morfydd Clark) move to the Yorkshire countryside with their son Owen for a fresh start away from the city. When Owen’s behaviour patterns change and he begins claiming to hear whistling sounds, Richard starts to investigate a mythic folklore about an ancient oak tree on his land. When dark and sinister forces start plaguing the family with fatal consequences, Richard and Jules witness the world begin to crumble around them and face their own battles to maintain their sanity.

Written and directed by Daniel Kokotajlo, and based upon the novel of the same name by Andrew Michael Hurley, Starve Acre is the latest addition to a continuing resurgence of the folk horror genre. The small cast unleash themselves and do a great job of navigating the complex, lore-heavy world that comes with this English spinechiller, set in the heart of the Yorkshire Moors. Clark, fresh from the set of Prime Video’s The Rings of Power, goes through the wringer as Jules in a truly exhausting performance and Smith walks broodily around the fields as his family history, past, present and future, is dug up and destroyed in front of preying eyes.

This sinister Yorkshire horror, where minds are lost when souls are taken, is a slow burn, but Kokotajlo does just about enough to prevent the narratively slim movie from feeling like a slog. The film seems at one with its environment, with the gloomy and moody countryside proving the ideal location for such a story. There is a sense of dread that gets under your skin right from the first scene, throwing the viewer into a world of grief, loss, paganism, and haunting trauma.

The cinematography from Adam Scarth remains grounded and naturalistic, but the landscape is artistically glorious, presented like a bleak painting that induces chills just by staring into the endless murky abyss. Because of this, supernatural moments feel real and all the more disturbing, keeping you on tenterhooks as you are led unwillingly to a cracked and unsettling climax. Matthew Herbert’s creative score, comprising of folky music with pounding industrial undertones, proves to be the most endearing element of the movie as it rings out under the drama, building tension and trepidation.

It is undeniably a niche bit of cinema, but Starve Acre will find its audience and the movie will certainly leave you wanting to read the book if you haven’t already.

Guy Lambert

Starve Acre is released nationwide on 6^th September 2024.

Watch the trailer for Starve Acre here: