Lord of Misrule Digital Review

4 star good solid folk horror film.

Lord of Misrule is a 2024 British supernatural folk horror film written by Tom de Ville (The Quiet Ones, No Escape) and directed by William Brent Bell (The Boy, Orphan: First Kill).

It is available on UK Digital Platforms from 8th January 2024 courtesy of Signature Entertainment.

“Is there any other Pagan cr*p we’ve forgotten that we need to bring, or is it just the death mask?”

Rebecca (Tuppence Middleton – The Imitation Game, Mank) has been the Vicar of the small rural English village of Berrow for around a year and is beginning to find her feet in the community. She moved to the village with her husband Henry (Matt Stokoe – Rose, Outlaw King), a struggling author and her daughter Grace (Evie Templeton – Pinocchio), who unbeknownst to her parents seems to be developing some worrying tendencies towards rabbit torture.

Grace has been chosen as the Harvest Angel at the village Harvest Festival, a big honour but a little strange for a Christian family, who hold very different beliefs to the locals. Everyone enters into the spirit of the festival, as the Lord of Misrule, portrayed by local man Jocelyn Abney (Ralph Ineson – The Pope’s Exorcist, The Creator) leads the rest of the village in a ritual to drive out the evil spirit Gallowgog.

All seems to be going well until it goes dark and as everyone dances around the fire, Rebecca sees Grace running off into the woods. She follows, but no trace can be found, sparking a man hunt as Rebecca grows ever more frantic wondering where her daughter has gone. Her investigations lead her to some disturbing discoveries about the history and superstitions of this sleepy looking village. Who has Grace and will she be able to save her?

“My loves, my dears. I am not just here to lead us on a journey. I am also here to protect us from another.”

Lord of Misrule is an entertaining and well written horror film. It is pervaded by a very British sense of creepiness and dread, that curtain twitching “what are the neighbours up to” attitude we are all so familiar with.

It is well written and features sterling acting performances from all concerned, especially Tuppence Middleton and Ralph Ineson, who spark off each other very well. It’s an interesting story which keeps you guessing right to the end and takes a good hard look at the cultural divide between mainstream and ancient religions.

My only issue with it is that it yields some of it’s secrets a little too early, taking some of the impact out of the later revelations, we already know weird things are afoot before we even start. That being said however, it’s a good film and well worth a watch.

“He stands in the field and waits. He stands in the field and waits and now he has taken his tithe.”