Portraying a strange town, pagan customs, and an old English wilderness deity known for his association with harvests, "Lord of Misrule" felt like an interesting movie to see, especially for a horror fan like myself. It presented a familiar but engaging story that focused more on not knowing instead of full-fledged revelations.
Some ancient customs associated with an age-old English harvest festival - going back to the early 1600s - were ideally showcased in the movie. I also liked how they portrayed the town's female Catholic vicar Rebecca Holland (played by Tuppence Middleton). This cleverly harkened back to pagan roots where women led ceremonies of religious and spiritual importance.
Rebecca was married and had a daughter named Grace (played by Evie Templeton) with husband Henry (played by Matt Stokoe). A lot of the mystery revolved around Grace, making her a focal point in the movie. All three gave natural and notable performances.
The culture-contrast between ancient paganism and modern Catholicism lent the movie a special kind of gravitas. The Hollands had only recently moved to the town, so much of its practices were still foreign to them.
Ralph Ineson as Jocelyn Abney was intriguing to watch. It was also nice to see his own real-life son Luc play a small part in this movie, namely that of Derry Nash.
Ralph's every scene felt suspenseful and substantial. His masked pageantry, stage-play renditions, and bonfire (Feast of Fools) celebrations surrounding the titular Lord of Misrule added to the suspense.
Ineson played his pagan character to simple yet remarkable effect. He apparently represented one who stood against Gallowgog, a contrary antlered entity said to ruin crops. In truth, he was a believer in the old ways and unearthed unnerving but essential truths about Gallowgog being a miraculous, not maleficent, entity.
When Grace later went missing in the woods during the town's harvest festival, hell broke loose in a way, leading to fear, suspicion, and worse as the Hollands strove to make sense of what might have happened to their little girl.
The only clues seemed to be connected to the four-day custom itself, and what each day demanded by way of gifts - Gift of Hair, Gift of Blood, Gift of Fire, Death of the Sun. In addition, seeing strange cloaked figures with masks amplified Rebecca's anxiety. Her personal investigations led her to Derry Nash (played by Luc Ineson) who gave her critical answers that led her to the dreaded Black Barn.
"Lord of Misrule" felt equally unnerving, uncomfortable, and eye-opening, not to forget open to interpretation. It captured the capricious nature of deities, and how so-called human rules and definitions don't always apply when it comes to the worship of ancient entities like Gallowgog.
Rural flourishes, pastoral flair, and pagan beliefs blended into a classic English folktale movie that took chilling liberties to deliver sinister twists, concluding with an interesting answer as to what actually happened to Grace and why she was allowed to return.
The movie provided plenty of lore-based possibilities that she might have become this year's tithe to the ancient fertility god Gallowgog. But then, even this out-of-time deity approved an act of devotion. The movie thus took a supposedly horrific creature and genuinely made it seem like a god.
"All is as was."
