We know that something is amiss with Char’s relations because the opening scene flashes back to a freakish woodland ritual involving Char as a baby and her grandmother. We don’t quite know what is going on in this scene but it becomes clear later in the movie that the ritual is key to the subsequent events that happen in Char’s life.
Char’s life is a bleak and lonely one, with her mother, Angela, and grandmother living an oppressive existence on a housing estate in Dublin. Their lives are as grim as the grey streets that surround them. Char’s mum won’t get out of bed, her gran is unable to express any kind of familial love, and the girls at her local school physically and emotionally abuse her.
The plot of this Irish drama is based on the discovery that something dark and dangerous is poisoning the home of Char, a woman who is struggling to make ends meet. The story features elements of ancient folklore as it tells the story of Char and her discovery that something dark and dangerous is poisoning her home.
It would appear that the Char family isn’t the only ones who have noticed something is wrong with their family. Local parents have warned their kids to stay away from them and it seems as if they know something about the family’s dark past but like us, they probably don’t quite know what their secrets are. The movie is slow to reveal the troubling truths that lie within its abstract plotting, which makes it difficult to determine what exactly is going on.
Despite the puzzling story, there is always a sense that something bad is going to happen, so while we are never completely sure what is going on (bar a few references that leave us clues as to the answer), the movie manages to retain interest because of its foreboding atmosphere. ..
When Char’s mother goes missing after abandoning her car on the local green, things take a weirder turn. We are never given a clue as to her actual location but when she eventually shows up again, she is radically changed. Gone is the depressed woman we saw before as Angela suddenly appears happy, optimistic, and seemingly back to her old self.
It’s almost a relief to the audience as well as to Char to see her mother well again. As the poor girl doesn’t have a lot in her life to cause her feelings of happiness, it’s nice to see her circumstances improve when Angela makes a positive transformation. Unfortunately, it’s not long before Char’s life is upended once more as her mum clearly isn’t well at all, despite those false appearances. The woman dances in a crazy fashion, screams, shouts, and hits the ground with her fists, and in a scene that has to be seen to be believed, somehow manages to stick her arm down her throat.
It’s been a few weeks since the body of Angela, the woman Char believes to be her mother, was found in a park near her home. The police are still investigating and have not released any information about who or what killed her. It’s clear that all is not right with Angela and according to Char’s gran, the woman she believes to be her mother isn’t her mother at all! And that begs the question… who is she? It seems like Angela may not even be human after all – the arm down the throat could be evidence of that. If it isn’t Angela, where did her real mother go? Is she still missing? As always with this complicated and oblique movie, the answers to these questions are not immediately obvious.
As the woman in Char’s house begins another transformation, things quickly go from bad to worse. This time, it’s more physical than mental and it becomes a fully-fledged horror movie. Char is forced to flee her home on Halloween night as the deformed person she believed to be her mother starts to chase her around the streets of the estate. From where the movie goes from here, we won’t say, so as not to divulge any further spoilers.
This is a strange movie indeed and while it’s not entirely satisfying, it can still be applauded for the strong acting and the doom-laden atmosphere. Horror fans might feel a bit short-changed as the movie often plays like a social drama rather than a terror tale, but at least it has a more thoughtful narrative than most, with a larger focus on urban realism than the ancient magics of Irish mythology that have been played out on the screen many times before.
This dark and disturbing tale follows the story of a family who live in an unusual housing estate. The family is made up of five siblings, all of whom have different mutations that make them unique. One of the siblings, named John, has a mutation that makes him a human with a snake-like head. Another sister, named Sarah, has a mutation that makes her body covered in scales. Finally, there’s one more sister, named Emily, who has a mutation that makes her body covered in hair. As the family starts to move into their new home, they quickly realize that they are not the only ones with strange quirks. The other residents of their housing estate have their own secrets and mysteries to keep hidden from them. As the family starts to get to know each other and their new surroundings, they begin to realize that there may be more than just monsters living among them…
