'Gwen' Movie Review

Gwen is about a Welsh farming family, who is staring down the barrel of the Industrial Revolution. The title character (Eleanor Worthington-Cox) is the older of two young girls who live with their mother (Maxine Peake), with their father off fighting in the war. Gwen is slowly watching everything in her life crumble, with her mother becoming ill with an unknown disease and a mining company attempting to destroy their way of life. But people soon become suspicious about Gwen and her family, as women in those days were often quick to be accused of witchcraft.

Gwen will likely be compared to 2016s The Witch, as there are many similarities. The film primarily relies on its atmosphere, which is largely influenced by its antiquated and troubling setting. It also prominently features family turmoil and the toll it takes on the eldest daughter. However, that comparison does not exactly help this film, as The Witch is a far superior picture. Gwen is hardly a bad movie, it’s not even a “meh” movie. But it does, unfortunately, fall short when compared to others of its kind. It’s a touch hard to follow at times, as there are several scenes with no dialogue, which can sometimes work brilliantly, but it can also be confusing. It also might not make quite as much sense if you have no familiarity with Celtic mythology. And as much as I like a lot of the movie, some of it just kinda boring. I hate using that word in the context of critique, but there are stretches of the movie to which it applies.

All that said, there are more positives than negatives. The atmosphere in the movie is quite enveloping, and much like The Witch, the regressive ideals and practices do contribute to the tension and unease. It has also got some great cinematography, which allows the filmmakers to take advantage of the beautiful countryside where the movie was shot. And the two leads (Gwen and her mother) do a fantastic job. Eleanor Worthington-Cox is a relative newcomer, and she really impressed me as the title character. Maxine Peake seems to be primarily known for her stage work, but she delivers an outstanding, very anguished performance. There are some pretty disturbing scenes of her convulsing and coughing up bile, and she’s incredibly convincing.

There is yet another aspect in which Gwen falls short, and that is the payoff. The film does a marvelous job of building atmospheric tension, but it doesn’t really deliver the disturbing finale that the viewer might be expecting. There is an ending, but it just kind of... happens. There’s not much “punch” to it, the story just kind of wraps up. It doesn’t feel abrupt or lazy or anything; it is a complete third act. I was just hoping it would leave me with chills, rather than a feeling of plain adequacy. I hate when this happens to a movie, because it does have some truly outstanding components. But the flaws it does have are glaring and hard to ignore. It’s a fairly common trap to fall into, but it’s no less unfortunate. I really hate how negative a lot of this review has been, because the positives truly do outweigh the negatives, but the film’s flaws warrant a bit more analysis.

Gwen has very lofty ambitions, but it just barely falls short. It has got great atmosphere and a stellar breakout performance from Eleanor Worthington-Cox, but it can’t seem to reach the same heights as its peers. It just feels like there is something missing; something that could have led its admittedly unnerving tension to a grander crescendo. It’s hardly bad, but it wasn’t quite able to make it past merely okay.

SCORE: 3.5/5