Unwelcome Review

Unwelcome is an Irish horror film by Northern Irish filmmaker Jon Wright.

Maya (Hannah John-Kamen) and Jamie (Douglas Booth) are a young married English couple who are expecting their first child. When Jamie’s great-aunt passes away, she leaves him her home in rural Ireland. However, when the couple arrives in the Emerald Isle, they find the house needs repair and the only builders available are the Whelans, a family of yobbos. Maya also gets told by Maeve (Niamh Cusack), the local publican, that she needs to leave a blood offering every night to the Redcaps, little goblin creatures that live in the woods.

Jon Wright is best known for making Grabbers, a horror-comedy where the residents of a small Irish town must get as drunk as possible to avoid getting attacked by monsters. It has developed a cult following. Wright’s films have generally had a light tone to them. So, it was surprising that this film was a lot more serious and straight-laced.

Unwelcome opened with Jamie and Maya getting attacked in their flat by London by a group of thugs. It made moving to rural Ireland a more attractive prospect. This attack still left a weight on the pair. Maya suffered from flashbacks and Jamie had become angrier and more aggressive. Other characters also suffered from a trauma of some sort. Jamie’s great-aunt suffered from a trauma that he was unaware of until her death, and of the Whelan boys, Eoin (Kristian Nairn) was abused by his father.

Unwelcome unintentionally was similar to Men. Both films showed characters escaping London to the countryside after experiencing some sort of trauma. Men went for an artistic, pretentious approach, Unwelcome was a straightforward affair with the couple conflicting with The Whelans.

The third act was when the film changed gears. It turned into a tongue-in-cheek affair with The Whelans attacking the home and the Redcaps finally appearing. The Redcaps looked like the offspring of Yoda and Dobby who like to dress up as Little Red Riding Hood. They were comedic figures because they seemed like they appeared in an ‘80s fantasy film. There was a great use of puppetry which was fun to see in this day and age of filmmaking.

The comedy came from what they said and the characters reacting to the strange little green people. Despite their comedic demeanor, they were still a threat because they were wielding knives and there were so many of them. The third act was a gory delight.

When speaking with Empire Magazine, Wright said he pitched Unwelcome as Gremlins meets Straw Dogs. Wright delivered what he promised because that was what I thought when I watched the film. The Straw Dogs comparisons were pretty blatant since both films were about city slickers moving to the countryside of a foreign nation and getting into conflict with hostile locals. The big difference was the conflict was more concentrated in Unwelcome since the couple only had issues with another family. The rest of the community was welcoming to Maya and Jamie. There was some misdirection when Maya and Jamie entered the pub and the patrons stared at them.

The Gremlins comparisons were even more obvious. Both films showed mischievous and untrustworthy creatures running amok. It was a fun throwback.

Unwelcome aimed to have storytelling symmetry. The film opens with a home invasion and concludes with a home invasion. Maya had a moral decision during both attacks and there were questions about whether she was a good person. This question was doubtful since Maya did seem like a caring person. She tried to protect Eoin from his father and supported him when he was upset.

Unwelcome also had a theme about parenthood, with a particular focus on what a parent would do to protect their family. There were stories told about what characters did to protect their loved ones and the final conflict was about two families facing off against each other.

Wright and his team did assemble a cast of recognisable actors. There was Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and the Wasp), Douglas Booth (Jupiter Ascending), veteran Irish actor Colm Meaney, Kristian Nairn (Game of Thrones), and Jamie-Lee O’Donnell (Derry Girls). Meaney gave the best performance as the seemingly jolly patriarch of the Whelans but slowly revealed his dark side. Nairn and O’Donnell were playing variations of the most famous characters. Nairn’s character was a strong simpleton, like Hodor, whilst O’Donnell was playing Michelle from Derry Girls as if she got a job. It was amusing to see another Derry Girl working as a construction worker in an Irish horror film.

When it comes to the English cast members it was notable that a woman who was nine months pregnant could still move quickly. Booth’s performance as Jamie oddly reminded me of Jack Whitehall due to his hairstyle, beard, and voice. It was weird to think that about Jack Whitehall in a horror film.

Unwelcome was a mostly conventional horror film. It comes to life in its third act which was pleasing for gore hounds and fans of horror-comedy.