Partners Jaime (Douglas Booth, That Dirty Black Bag) and Maya (Hannah John-Kamen, Killjoys) have been trying to have a baby for a long time, and finally get the good news they have been hoping for. But the joy and celebration of the positive pregnancy test is short-lived when they are assaulted that same evening in their London flat. The experience has left them both rattled, with Jaime feeling like less of a man, unable to protect his pregnant girlfriend, and Maya being terrified and unsafe even in her own home. However, the couple soon gets a nice change of scenery when Jaime inherits his Aunt Maeve’s house in a small rural Irish village.

The couple’s new neighbor Niamh (Niamh Cusack) warns them that Maeve was a superstitious person, who believed she had been punished for turning her back on the old ways. And so every evening before sunset, Maeve would leave a small blood offering by the wooden door in the garden leading to the forest. The offering was for the Little People—the Far Darrig, or Redcaps—in exchange for helping out her family. Niamh insists that Maya and Jaime must continue this tradition, and she even offers to make the offerings herself, bBut Maya doesn’t really feel comfortable with a stranger coming to her garden daily and reluctantly agrees to keep on with the seemingly-ridiculous tradition herself.

Maya and Jaime have a feeling they are really going to like their new more-peaceful surroundings. That is, until they meet the Whelans. Their new home is in need of some repairs, such as the big hole in the roof, and so they hire “Daddy” Whelan (Colm Meaney) and his three adult children—Killian (Chris Walley, Bloodlands), Aisling (Jaime-Lee O’Donnell, Derry Girls), and Eoin (Kristian Nairn, Game of Thrones)—to do the work. While the family appears a bit odd and eccentric at first, Maya and Jaime soon realize there is something darker and more sinister to them. The siblings aren’t the most welcoming of people, treating Jaime and Maya like foreigners who have invaded their village. Maya and Jaime try to ignore the constant comments and passive-aggressive actions of the Whelan clan, preferring to be more pacifist than seeking out confrontation. However, their patience quickly wears thin as the days go on, and the Whelans’ comments become more direct, and their actions start to turn violent.

Meanwhile, there have been some disappearances in the village, and Maya starts to believe there may be some truth to the stories of the Far Darrig. She starts to think the creatures might be able to solve their issues with their unwelcome contractors, but dealings with the Recaps always come with a price.

Unwelcome starts off as more of a standard character drama and thriller, introducing the viewer to this couple, and building the tension of their predicament. It’s not really clear what happened to Jaime’s Aunt Maeve and her family, but as Maya starts to delve into this and figure out what happened, it’s looking like the Far Darrig may not just be a nonsense myth. At the same time, two threats are looming over the young couple. First there’s this odd family that they had welcomed into their home to repair their roof, but Jaime and Maya are now starting to realize they are not the most stable or well-meaning group of individuals. There’s also these Redcaps lurking in the woods—what if Maya forgets to leave the offering, will that make them angry?, and if so, what will they do? For the first two-thirds of the movie we only get small hints as to what these creatures are and what they’re capable of. It’s like Jaws where the film teases the audience, waiting until the final act to show the true nature of the shark. But which of these poses a bigger and more immediate threat to Maya and Jaime?

While I enjoyed the tension and character dram of the first two acts of the movie, it’s in the third act where the film really shines, going from home invasion thriller to a completely bonkers Gremlins, where we finally get to see these goblin creatures in their full glory. The film becomes a fun, over-the-top, action-packed and gory spectacle that will have you constantly gasping and smiling. However, despite all of this, the emotional heart and core of the film remains, and ultimately pays off in the end. The cast is filled with a lot of recognizable faces, and I really enjoyed all of the performances. Colm Meaney is always great as the bad guy, and Daddy’s three unhinged children are each deliciously fun and despicable in their own ways, especially Killian and Aisling. Kristian Nairn feels like he’s playing another version of Hodor, just one who has a few more words in his vocabulary and more evil. Hannah John-Kamen & Douglas Booth make a great couple, and the chemistry between Maya and Jaime feels believable.

Well Go’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds quite good. The picture is generally clean, and clear throughout, save for a couple nighttime scenes that were slightly too dark at times. Once Maya and Jaime get to Ireland, there is this change in color palette that is almost surreal and oversaturated at times—like the impossible bright red sky that sometimes appears behind the cottage. At times these lighting and color changes made me feel like I was looking at a set rather than a real cottage. This may have been an intentional stylistic choice—like the more grainy look of the scenes as Maya traumatically flashes back to the attack in her London flat—in order to give it a more surreal or classic creature-feature feel. These scenes reminded me of the heightened way some of the Creepshow TV series episodes or the third episode of season 7 of Fear The Walking Dead were lit/shot. So I don’t think its specific to the Blu-ray presentation. The goblin-like creatures, once we finally do see them, look excellent, creepy and cute at the same time, and most importantly realistic. When they interact with the human characters it feels natural, believable and seamless. The audio track provides clear dialogue throughout as well as a great score/soundtrack, and a nice immersive feel, especially during the more action-packed sequences.

In addition to the usual trailers, Well Go’s Blu-ray release also includes about 18 minutes of behind-the-scenes features/interviews with the cast/crew. The disc comes packed in a locking HD keepcase, and doesn’t include a digital copy. Our review copy did not include any slipcover.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:43:56)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
• Audio: English DTS-HDMA 5.1, English Stereo
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

• Behind the Scenes (12:48)
  The cast and crew discuss how the film came about, centering around the idea of a pacifist who would resort to extreme violence if their family’s safety was on the line, what drew the actors to the movie, the Redcaps and the price for their assistance, the tone of the movie, grounding the creature feature/horror/gore in emotional character drama, subverting expectations, and more. Includes clips, and interviews with director Jon Wright, writer Mark Stay, director of photography Hamish Doyne-Ditmas, producer Piers Tempest, and stars Douglas Booth (“Jaime”} & Hannah John-Kamen (“Maya”).
• Making the Redcaps (5:24)
  Prosthetic supervisor Shaun Harrison takes viewers on a tour of his lab, discussing the process of creating and sculpting the goblins, and showing off the various designs, sculptures and masks. He also talks about mixing practical and digital effects in order to get the best creatures.
• Trailer (2:19)
• Previews
  • Project Wolf Hunting (2:17)
  • The Loneliest Boy in the World (2:20)
  • Death Knot (2:10)

Final Thoughts:

Unwelcome is a solid thriller that slowly builds the tension and character drama before going full out bonkers in the final act that feels like an homage to the creature features of the 1980s. At its core, the film is an interesting character drama about a couple going through a traumatic home invasion, only to move to the country and experience something similar as they are still trying to come to terms with the first evet. Add to this an interesting mystery and mythology, some cute but violent creatures, and a fun gory time, and you’ve got a bloody entertaining film. This one is an easy recommendation, and I will definitely be seeking out some of writer/director Jon Wright’s previous genre work.

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