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When her young daughter goes missing at a local festival, the new vicar of a village discovers dark secrets.

William Brent Bell’s (Orphan: First Kill) British folk horror wears its influences on its sleeve, from kids in animal masks, to a local ‘celebration’ in a rural setting, to a missing child and a fiery ritual. Luckily, two strong central performances anchor the movie and prevent it from being just another Wicker Man clone.

Tuppence Middleton’s Rebecca Holland has moved into a rural village with her young family and is establishing herself as the new vicar. Perhaps as a way of integrating into the community, Jocelyn’s daughter is appointed as the ‘festival angel’ in the harvest festival, a pagan tradition at odds with Hollands’ Christianity. And then the child is abducted.

There’s little urgency shown by the local constabulary, and very quickly the abduction is seen as unfortunate but inevitable, but Holland is not going down fighting. The local patriarch Jocelyn Abney (an impressive Ralph Ineson) has a secret, and as the reverend starts to unravel the truth about the village, she sinks deeper into despair – will anyone help her?

Verdict: Tense, well-acted and with an authentic undercurrent of menace, this is a worthy addition to the folk horror pantheon. 8/10

Nick Joy