A dark folk tale set during the industrial revolution in a mountainous region in Wales, Gwen sees its eponymous young lead contending with illness, harsh conditions, an absent father due to war, and hostile villagers. All of which is more than a match for anyone coming of age, but there’s also a lingering threat of something far more sinister haunting her family home. As our own Joe Lipsett said in his review of Gwen out of TIFF last year, the narrative “is a gorgeous slow burn reminiscent of The Witch.” It’s not just the period set, foreboding atmosphere that draws the comparison, or its style of slow burn dread. It’s also in the parallel journeys of Gwen and The Witch’s Thomasin.
Written/directed by William McGregor in his feature debut, the film paints a picture of a harsh world; cold, windy mountains consistently cast in grey, foggy thunderstorms. Of a highly religious village undergoing change, as well as a war raging elsewhere that’s pulled family patriarchs away from their homes. Such is the case for Gwen (Eleanor Worthington-Cox), a young teen helping her mother Elen (Maxine Peake) tend to the family farm and younger sister Mari (Jodi Innes). She bears a heavy load of responsibility on her shoulders, and it’s made even more precarious because her father is away at war. In a male-dominated society where her farmland is considered dated and coveted space for the encroaching industrial revolution, many of the leaders are looking for any sign of weakness to swoop in. That something seems to be off with Elen makes their troubles compounded with danger.
While Thomasin hails from a very different part of the world with a different set of problems, both she and Gwen are women coming of age in an oppressive period. Both are tethered to their family farms and the responsibility that brings, all while dealing with unfair aggression from their mothers. Their families, for different reasons, are outcasts in their respective communities, too. Both deal with themes of power and agency for their leading ladies. Even if their paths are ultimately divergent.
Slow burn horror is categorized by its gradual escalation of dread and terror that builds into an explosive finale. It opts for an unhurried coiling of tension, and a deliberate unraveling of the plot’s mysteries over quick-paced spook fests. It hangs everything on atmosphere. Unsettling, permeating atmosphere. Slow burn horror is steeped in ambiguity, keeping the viewer guessing until the very last minute. Above all, it’s bleak. As things shift from dour to dire in measured strokes, very few slow burn horror movies offer uplifting happily ever afters. At best, the protagonists end their narratives with a note of hope or a hint of freedom, but it tends to be delivered with a caveat, warning, or moral dubiousness. All of which makes slow burn a tough sell for some.
For those that love slow burn horror and films like The Witch, Gwen delivers. Its existential anxiety on behalf of its leading lady mirrors that same feeling we had for Thomasin. The pioneering period folktale that blends with gothic horror set in a stunning landscape creates one of the year’s best in terms of atmosphere. And just like The Witch, Gwen teaches us that it’s often society that creates the worst kinds of monsters.
Gwen releases in theaters, on demand, and digital HD on August 16, 2019.
