The first act of Little Bone Lodge is a fascinatingly taut mystery box, all nervous glances and unspoken secrets compounding a sense of dread. Wicked deeds are afoot, but the film effectively keeps its cards to its chest. If the film can’t quite sustain this controlled impactful atmosphere, there is still much to enjoy as all is revealed over 90 minutes.
Part of the success is Joely Richardson’s cracking turn as Mama, a calculated figure balancing a warm friendliness with a vicious side. Neil Linpow’s script sews in details to distrust Richardson whilst retaining a likeable quality that makes Mama’s journey all the more impactful. The rest of the ensemble are strong but can feel a bit lost as all the pieces of the puzzle come together.
Director Matthias Hoene’s work could not be more different from the work he is most synonymous with, Cockneys vs Zombies. Whilst both mix gangster tropes into their work, Little Bone Lodge’s darkness and the complexity of the narrative’s rich history. It is a deadly serious work and the shift between the two perhaps points to where the UK horror scene now is. Certainly, Hoene is now a name I’ll keep a closer eye on.
And really it marks the success of Little Bone Lodge as a whole. Here is a narrative and a work packed with surprises, narratively complex, stylistically intriguing and with several emotionally impactful moments that build towards a fascinatingly morally obtuse finale. A genre gem worth seeking out, for sure.