The Feast Review

The Feast (or Gwledd in Welsh) is a Welsh language horror film that acts as a British entry into the elevated horror subgenre.

A wealthy family in rural Wales is planning to host a dinner party. There are tensions in the family unit. Cadi (Annes Elwy), a waitress from the nearby town is hired to help cater the party and bears witness to a tense night.

The Feast was one of those films where there was a divide between critics and audiences. It has a strong 80% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but only 49% from audiences, whilst on IMDB it has a score of 5.5. It was due to The Feast being slower paced which focused on characters and themes.

The Feast was a film that was filled with atmosphere and tension. Despite the family’s wealth and comfort, it was dysfunctional. Early in the film Gweirydd (Sion Alun Davies) marvelled at his crotch and his brother, Guto (Steffan Cennydd) witnessed this. There was a voyeuristic quality to the film because the family was watching each other, especially with the brothers being suspicious of each other.

The tensions also extended to parents. Guto and his father, Gwyn (Julian Lewis Jones) did not get along because of an incident in London and there was resentment between the pair. The mother, Glenda (Nia Roberts) was cold and had a domineering personality that extended to her children and Cadi. The dinner party felt like a pressure cooker that was about to go off.

Cadi acted as the audience surrogate since she was an outsider to the family conflict. She was shown to be a meek and quiet young woman and she had clearly had her own trauma. Cadi was terrified when she heard gunfire and horrified when Gwyn brought in a couple of dead rabbits. When Cadi appeared at the house there were a couple of mysteries like why her head was wet and why did she leave dirt in the house?

The filmmakers were keen on their setups and payoffs. A lot of the mysteries were set up early in the film and led to reveals during the final confrontation. It was a great example of direction and screenwriting, especially with Cadi’s actions and motivations.

As well as the tension within the family, The Feast had a surprising turn towards the supernatural. It made the film seem like it was influenced by the Celtic legends and there was an environmental theme. The Feast became a story of nature fighting against the violations against her.

Whilst The Feast was a horror film that was built on its atmosphere and tension, there were some eyewatering moments. One involved a broken wine bottle which was particularly memorable.

The Feast was a film made for an audience who enjoy a more thoughtful style of horror film. The slow pace will divide audiences, but the character dynamics do make The Feast a compelling experience.