Enys Men is a 2022 British experimental psychological folk horror film written and directed by Mark Jenkin and staring Mary Woodvine, Edward Rowe, Flo Crowe, and John Woodvine. The film is set in the seventies on an uninhabitable Cornish Island where a wildlife volunteer observes a rare flower as she starts to loser her mind as fantasy and reality blur. Enrys Men is an interesting enjoyable film however as a final product the film doesn’t quite come together in the end.
The direction in the film is good. All the actors to a good job and due to the film being such as small cast they work well together as a tight nit group. The mood of the film is good. There is a good horror atmosphere that creates a creepy oppressive tone throughout that makes the film feel interesting and unique. The style of the film is good. The film has a good retro seventies style that makes the film feel unique. The film has a feeling of a retro seventies horror style that works well for the film.
The acting in the film is good. Mary Woodvine does a good job as The Volunteer that does daily observations of a rare flower. Edward Rowe does a good job as The Boatman who Ferry’s her to the island. Flo Crowe does a good job as The Girl is the film that The Volunteer stubbles across. John Woodvine does a good job as The Preacher in the film. Joe Gray does a good job as The Miner in the film. Loveday Twomlow does a good job as The Baby in the film. Callum Mitchell does a good job as the sound engineer in the film.
The writing in the film is a mixed bag. The film has a genuinely interesting setup with the woman going to the island and weird things happening to her which is a genuinely intriguing set up in the film. There are interesting, weird things that happen in the film that makes the film unique. The film feels very seventies in how a story plays out and it very much feels like an old school horror film. However, as a negative the film has an interesting set up but doesn’t really do much with it. I don’t understand what happened in the film at all. Nothing was explained which I felt was to its detriment as a more coherent story would have helped the plot more.
The cinematography is good. The film has a good seventies retro look to it. The film looks and feels old and retro feel to it being shot on film which gives the film a cool retro feel and allows it to look timeless. The film also has good practical blood effects in the film which look great.
Enys Men is a film with generally interesting enjoyable elements to it however the film doesn’t really come together in the end as a final product.