< Back to main Festival page

A woman with dark hair and blood on her cheek looks off camera left.

Fréwaka

  Aislinn Clarke

  Ireland     103 minutes

Synopsis

They’ve been defanged — literally — by pop culture. But in Irish folklore, fairies (also known as the sidhe, or, in this film, simply “them”) are a real and serious threat. For the followup to her 2018 feature debut The Devil’s Doorway, writer-director Aislinn Clarke dives deep into the sinister side of these supernatural creatures for a terrifying folk-horror film that’s steeped in ancient legend and presented with a deep sense of pride in Irish language and tradition.

Siubhán— known to her friends as “Shoo” — is a home care nurse struggling with mixed emotions after her estranged mother dies by suicide. Pieg is her elderly client, who lives so far out in the country that the only directions to her cottage are to “turn at the fairy tree.” Pieg’s home is covered in wards and charms, and she insists that Shoo adopt her superstitious ways as well. As it turns out, there’s a reason for that: Many years ago, Pieg made a promise to the sidhe, and they’ve returned to collect.

 Irish, English with subtitles

Screenings & Events

Screening

Fri, Oct 18 @ 10:00pm CDT

at AMC NEWCITY 14, screen 13

Scheduled to Attend:
Director Aislinn Clarke

Screening

Sat, Oct 19 @ 11:30am CDT

at AMC NEWCITY 14, screen 06

Scheduled to Attend:
Director Aislinn Clarke

Film Credits

  •   Diarmuid Lavery
  •   Aislinn Clarke
  •   John Murphy
  •   Narayan Van Maele
  •   Clare Monnelly, Bríd Brennan, Aleksandra Bystrzhitskaya
  •   Die Hexen
  •   DoubleBand Films