This may be a hot take, but folk horror doesn’t really do it for me. While I do enjoy films like The Ritual and Rawhead Rex, something about the subgenre doesn’t resonate with my tastes. Do I appreciate the subgenre and what it’s done for the genre as a whole? Sure. That doesn’t mean I seek them out in my free time. The biggest issue I have with folk horror is how typically vague the films tend to be. Many folk horror films require multiple viewings to get proper context and put all the pieces together and that’s just not something I care to put much time into. When I heard The Severed Sun was playing at Fantastic Fest, I figured I should at least give it a shot.
The Severed Sun: A Tale of an Isolated Community
The Severed Sun takes place in an isolated religious community. This self-sustaining community is far from idyllic. Magpie (Emma Appleton) finds herself at the whim of an abusive husband after an arranged marriage by her Pastor father (Toby Stephens). When push comes to shove, Magpie takes retribution into her own hands, for the sake of her son and stepson. When the death of her husband comes to light, residents of this community start to question how involved Magpie was. Soon, the residents begin to worry as a supposed beast starts taking out men one by one.
Expanding on his short film The Sermon, writer/director Dean Puckett surely knows his stuff. At its core, The Severed Sun is a fairly effective folk horror film. The setup works, the long stretch of atmosphere-building doesn’t get too tedious, and the payoff feels worth the wait. One of my pet peeves is when the brunt of an actor’s job relies on shouting and forced confrontation. Many points in The Severed Sun revolve around multiple characters simply yelling at each other and it felt forced. Rather than letting the actors explore and build deep emotional moments, Puckett’s script constantly falls back to: be loud. This doesn’t necessarily cheapen the overall outcome, but it does feel tedious after some time. Though I understand why the yelling and raised voices are happening, it just feels like a copout at points.
The Severed Sun’s Creature Design
The creature design isn’t the most original design out there, but it does an effective job of creating an atmosphere of fear and dread. I know I wouldn’t want to run into it in a poorly lit back alley. One thing is for sure: Puckett cares deeply about providing gorgeous and gag-inducing practical effects. The on-screen, and implied, violence leaves a lasting impact that will stay with the viewer for quite some time. It would have been slightly more impactful to have a few more moments of gore and violence, Puckett doles it out effectively and times it well enough to not make the gore-heads tune out.
Cinematographer Ian Forbes does an exceptional job of capturing the beauty of this isolated island. Even though the film looks great, it doesn’t feel like the wheel has been reinvented. From what I’ve seen, The Severed Sun is a fairly by-the-books folk horror film that is enjoyable on the surface but doesn’t feel deeper than it could be. It examines the plight of women stuck in the vicious cycle of religious extremism and that’s about it. The examination is just that, an examination. The Severed Sun doesn’t dig into the topic as much as it could or should have. I’m happy I watched and experienced this film, but I am not sure if I would revisit it down the line.