Making its debut on Shudder this Thursday (October 17), Gwen is a strange film. I absolutely wouldn’t classify it as anything close to horror. It’s best described as an atmospheric period piece about a family that’s down in the dumps from start to finish. Throw in some strange disease that’s ailing the mother, as well as a ton of misfortune, and you have Gwen. While I was watching it my wife said, “What’s the point of this movie?” I don’t have a good answer for her because this film doesn’t seem to serve any purpose. It merely exists. Not a whole lot happens in this movie and there’s more silence than sound. It’s as if the viewer is simply watching a family fall apart. The ending isn’t satisfying either. In a word filled with real-life negativity and depressing predicaments, the last thing I want to do is watch a movie mired with them. With this in mind, I can’t recommend Gwen to anyone.

Official Synopsis

In this stark and atmospheric tale, Gwen is a young girl struggling with her mother’s mysterious illness, her father’s absence and the suspicious local community that has turned on them. Somehow Gwen must find the strength to guide her family through the darkness and overcome the evil that is taking grip of her home. Starring Maxine Peake, Eleanor Worthington-Cox, and Richard Harrington, directed by William McGregor.