Movies
[SXSW Review] ‘Citadel’ is a Freakish Horror Drama
“‘Citadel’ is an incredibly well-shot, terrifying and freakish horror drama that’s loaded with violence, scares and intensity that only David Cronenberg’s ‘The Brood’ could deliver.”
I can’t stand director intros or post-screening Q+A sessions mainly because they fill my head with various excuses and ideas in relation to the screened film. Such the case with the Irish horror drama Citadel, which filmmaker Ciarán Foy explained was a reflection of his own bout with agoraphobia. Having not known this I wonder if I would have loved it half as much…
In Citadel Aneurin Barnard plays Tommy, an agoraphobic that is forced to watch (from inside a broken elevator) his pregnant wife as she’s attacked by a swarm of punk kids. She ends up in a coma forcing Tommy to raise his newborn on his own, an extremely difficult challenge considering he’s terrified of leaving his own apartment. Trapped in his own filth, the apartment complex is being overrun by these young kids who continually attempt to break into his place. He soon learns, with the help of the local priest (who puts on his best Brian Cox performance), that the towers are overrun with blind, infected feral children who can “sense fear.”
As alluded to in the opening paragraph, Citadel is nothing more than an allegory for the director’s own agoraphobia – a therapeutic exercise where he confronts his own personal demons. Knowing this, I was completely engaged in watching how he fleshed out the story, and to see what it would take for Tommy to confront his fears. The deep-seeded idea behind the film, as dark as it is, is quite beautiful. Citadel is a sob story that makes you feel for both the character and director. The surface is a completely different story…
Citadel is an incredibly well-shot, terrifying and freakish horror drama that’s loaded with violence, scares and intensity that only David Cronenberg’s The Brood could deliver. The bleak atmosphere oozes discomfort with Barnard’s performance only adding even more of a punch. While the priest, played by James Cosmo, was an obvious device to move the story without adding too much exposition, his character added an entire new dimension to the plot. His character spews gem after gem, such as when Tommy asks what the children “are”, “They’re demons, Tommy,” he says with a straight face before adding, “You’d believe anything I tell you right now…” His honest intensity towards Tommy reflects the audience and their own issues towards the situation; you just want to yell at him to get over it already, he’s got a kid to protect…
The major problem with Citadel is that Foy made this movie for Foy, not horror fans, not anyone else. It was a cathartic release for him that resulted in a well-made and entertaining feature that structurally could have been a bit more sound. In addition, I highly recommend that whomever acquires the film for distribution remove or re-edit the final shot that displays some CGI effects that are on par with Birdemic (wish I were joking). And while Citadel has its share of issues, ultimately it’s a pretty entertaining genre outing that has enough kicks for the hardcore audience, and enough jolts for those looking for something a bit more tame.
This week kicked off with the release of hippo horror movie Hungry at home, and four more horror movies have arrived for at-home viewing as we head into the final weekend of June.
Here are the new horror movies that released on Friday, June 26, 2026!
The Halloween season can no longer be contained to the months of September and October, with “Summerween” becoming a thing in recent years. Essentially, it allows for Halloween to bleed into the warmer Summer months, and the first ever Summerween movie has arrived.
The Asylum released Summerween onto Digital outlets today.
In the film from writer/director Ryan Ebert, “On Summerween, a former circus clown escapes a mental institution to return to his abandoned mansion and hunt the teens partying there.”
Cole Chapleski, Chase Breithoff, Logan Roe, Sophia Sabol, and Clint Morrison star.
Director Ryan Ebert is the man behind a string of recent indie horrors we’ve covered, including Shark Side of the Moon, The Jolly Monkey, Jurassic Reborn, and Predator: Wastelands.
A witchy coming-of-age story from Dark Sky Films, Camp is now playing in select theaters.
Check your local listings to find a theater near you.
Camp is from writer-director Avalon Fast (Honeycomb, The Serpent’s Skin).
“Emily is the root cause of two devastating tragedies very early in her life, and she feels the weight of these accidents as though cursed. At her father’s suggestion, she takes a position at a summer camp for troubled youth to ease her guilt. When Emily arrives, she is welcomed by the other counselors, who accept her as she is and surround her with peace and forgiveness.
“As Emily begins to believe in a new kind of life, she starts to hear a voice whispering from deep in the woods — one that urges her to go home, and one that may be impossible to ignore.”
The film stars Zola Grimmer in her screen debut alongside Alice Wordsworth, Cherry Moore, Lea Rose Sebastianis (Castration Movie Part 1 & 2, In A Violent Nature), Ella Reece, Austyn Van de Kamp (This Too Shall Pass), Sophie Bawks-Smith (Honeycomb), Izza Jarvis, and Aiden Laudersmith.
Producers Tyler Perry and Jason Blum have joined forces for Peacock Original Strung.
The film is now streaming only on Peacock.
“A talented violinist takes a prestigious job as a music tutor for the gifted daughter of an influential and enigmatic family. As she becomes entangled in their opulent world, unsettling secrets begin to surface, forcing her to question her safety, her dreams, and even her sanity.”
Malcolm D. Lee (Scary Movie 5, Space Jam: A New Legacy) directs from a script written by Alan B. McElroy (Wrong Turn, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers).
Chloe Bailey (“Swarm“), Lynn Whitfield (Jaws: The Revenge), Lucien Laviscount (“Scream Queens”), Anna Diop (Us), Coco Jones (Vampires vs. the Bronx), Langley Kirkwood (“Banshee”), and Romy Woods star in Peacock’s Strung.
Produced by Diablo Cody, director Meredith Alloway’s Forbidden Fruits brought a new coven of witches to the big screen earlier this year, and it’s now streaming on Shudder.
Lola Tung (“The Summer I Turned Pretty”), Victoria Pedretti (“The Haunting of Hill House”), Alexandra Shipp (Tragedy Girls), Gabrielle Union (Breaking In), and Emma Chamberlain star in Forbidden Fruits, released by IFC and Shudder.
Free Eden employee Apple secretly runs a witchy femme cult in the basement of the mall store after hours. But when new hire Pumpkin challenges the group’s ‘girl boss’ ways, the women are forced to face their own poisons or succumb to a bloody fate.
“Forbidden Fruits grabbed me by the neck the very first time I read it,” Diablo Cody said. “It’s one of the craziest, most creative, beautifully bonkers projects I’ve ever worked on.”
Meagan Navarro writes in her review for Bloody Disgusting, “Forbidden Fruits may not necessarily forge new terrain in the teen satire space, but Alloway brings so much style and energy to her well-cast single-location stage play adaptation for the Gen Z crowd.”
The film is an adaptation of playwright Lily Houghton’s stage play Of the Women Came the Beginning of Sin and Through Her We All Die. Alloway and Houghton co-adapted.
This week’s new release roundups are presented by HUNGRY.
All aboard the swamp tour from hell – this hippo isn’t playing games…
HUNGRY is now available on Digital. Watch it now!
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