Lord of Misrule is a folklore horror written by Tom De Ville and directed by William Brent Bill. Previous credits for Tom includes Urban Gothic, Corvidae and Hannibal. Meanwhile, William Brent Bill’s previous directorial features are The Boy, Orphan: First Kill and The Devil Inside. It stars Tuppence Middleton, Ralph Ineson, Robert Goodman, Matt Stokoe, Evie Templeton and David Langham, among an impressive cast.
The official synopsis promises a story that follows Rebecca Holland who has recently taken over as priest of a small town. When her young daughter Grace goes missing at the local harvest festival, a desperate search begins. In my words, this leads Rebecca down a rabbit hole where her religion and faith are tested against the backdrop of a creepy folklore tale.
Take a look at the trailer below:
Lord of Misrule‘s premise is scary enough. A child is kidnapped and the parents are helpless to save them. That in itself is a fear of any parent but put it against the backdrop of a creepy village and you’ve already doubled the scare factor. So, those are the pieces but not the whole jigsaw. To complete the scares there need to be at least three other things: direction, writing and acting and all three need to be in harmony.
I’m glad to say this is exactly what happens. It starts with the blueprint of the script and you can tell Tom’s done his research on folklore and cults. But it isn’t just that. The script never relies on cheap scares to create its fear factor. By this, I mean it lacks jump scares and instead relies on tension. It builds the villains through dialogue and slow action and never once pushes itself to be something it isn’t. This is one horror that doesn’t have an identity crisis.
Meanwhile, the direction builds upon this. William Brent Bell’s direction is atmospheric and he knows when to stay on a shot just long enough to make you feel uneasy without it outstaying its welcome. There are so many beautifully haunting shots that leave you wondering if something more is coming but you’ll never be disappointed by how it’s captured. You can already see this in the trailer but believe me when I say there’s still more to experience.
The third component is the acting and there are two people I’ll commend right now. Tuppence Middleton and Ralph Ineson. Don’t get me wrong, everyone in Lord of Misrule is great but these are the two who constantly fight for the limelight when they’re on screen. Seeing them together is like getting an acting class for free.
Tuppence portrays the grieving mother who refuses to lose her faith and hope despite everything with such conviction. She makes you want to root for her, for her to do whatever it takes to get her daughter back. Meanwhile, Ralph will chill you to the bone from the moment he arrives. He leaves you guessing his affiliation throughout thanks to his brilliant way of being a chameleon who fits in the skin of the character he needs to be.
There is more I could talk about, such as Brett Detar‘s chilling soundtrack. As an aside, I hope we see the release of the soundtrack soon. It takes the three components mentioned above and elevates the horror to a greater level. Don’t expect Lord of Misrule to be a movie that outright scares you – it’s not an in-your-face horror movie.
It’s the chill crawling up your back, the spider scuttling on your ceiling and the snake slithering around your leg. Or maybe it’s the Shape following you home. This is where the story shines the most: it never allows you to breathe as it keeps its claws around you until the credits roll. The lack of jump scares helps to build this tension and I couldn’t be happier about that.
