Fantastic Fest 2024 – While I’ve seen my share of folk horror movies over the years, I haven’t seen one quite like The Severed Sun. What makes writer/director Dean Puckett‘s movie unique is that while it contains several folk horror motifs, it’s also a creature feature. This movie has a beast that lives in the woods. The creature murders holier-than-thou members of an isolated church community.

Emma Appleton stars as Magpie, the most outspoken female within the community. This sparks accusations that she’s a heretic, even though she’s the daughter of the pastor, played by Toby Stephens. One of the community members, Andrea (Jodhi May), is certain that Magpie not only fornicated with the beast, but also murdered her hubby. Yes, indeed, this small community festers a lot of drama and backstabbing. For outspoken women such as Magpie, the finger pointing leads to some severe consequences and punishments.

This film contains a lot of familiar folk horror motifs and tropes. This includes shots of fields in England, thick woods, and women in white dresses. There’s a constant clash between the rigid views of the pastor, who uses religion to maintain control, and his progressive daughter. She even defies his desire that she marry his errand boy, John (Barney Harris).  Instead, she frolics in the woods with the more rebellious David (Lewis Gribben), who her old man disdains.

Like a lot of folk horror films, the cinematography here is both stunning and eerie. The film opens and closes with a shot of the moon and the sun. The woods where the beast lurks feel both menacing and inviting, at least if you read the beast as a metaphor for sexual liberation, a break from the community’s entrapping norms. As for the creature design, it’s a shadowy horned monster with glowing eyes. It’s rather simple. However, there’s a few scenes where it touches trees and resembles snakes or roots.

Other than some of the imagery, the performances here are the real standout. Stephens is all kinds of domineering and frightening in this film, bellowing fire and brimstone. May makes for a good antagonist, too. As Andrea, she riles up the community against Magie. Meanwhile, Appleton gives Magpie a type of fierceness that makes her character a strong protagonist at odds with her community and even her own father.

Though The Severed Sun is set centuries ago, its address of women’s rights within a fanatical religious and patriarchal community feels all too relevant. This film has some great performances, especially from Stephens and Appleton. This blend of a creature feature with folk horror oddly works. This feature is an exciting new addition to the folk horror canon.