Martyrs Lane Review

4 star emotionally powerful ghost story.

Martyrs Lane is a 2021 British horror film written and directed by Ruth Platt (The Lesson, Black Forest). A Shudder Original film, it is available in the UK on DVD and Digital for the first time courtesy of Acorn Media International.

“Hey Leah. Two truths, one lie. You’re asthma is all in your head, God loves you and you’re an attention seeking little brat.”

Leah (Kiera Thompson – The Salisbury Poisonings) is a ten year old girl, living in a large old vicarage in England with her family. Her father Thomas (Steven Cree – The Twin, Terminator: Dark Fate) is the local vicar and very dedicated to his job. Her mother Sarah (Denise Gough – Monday, The Good Traiter) is always distant and distracted and her sister Bex (Hannah Rae – Broadchurch, Carmilla) likes to bully her.

Feeling a little bit on the outside, Leah finds the big old vicarage with it’s religious iconography a bit sinister and begins to see shadows in every corner. She has always been drawn to her mother’s locket and one day she opens it. Inside she finds a lock of hair, which she loses.

Her mother is inconsolable at the loss and soon afterwards Leah begins to get visits from a little girl (Sienna Sayer – who won’t tell her what her name is. Through a game, she begins to spoon feed her information, leading her to tantalizing discoveries and revealing pieces of a puzzle that it might be better not to solve.

“What you lost, it’s near the old shed, round the back. Right under the window.”

Martyrs Lane is a very effective ghost story, very gothic in it’s feel and beautifully filmed. Clever use of lighting and copious billowing diaphanous curtains lend an excellent air of otherworldliness to the whole thing.

What really sets this film apart are the superb performances from the two young leads who are both perfectly believable. It’s very interesting to see grief and loss at work from the perpective of a child who has no idea what she is witnessing.

It’s a brave idea for a film and it pays off really well. Very atmospheric and creepy and well worth adding to your collection.

“Will you help me? You need something and I need something, my name. And then it will all be okay.”

Martyrs Lane is available on DVD and Digital Platforms from 4th July 2022.