For this year’s SXSW I have tried to go into every screening with as blank a slate as possible. It’s sometimes fun to walk into a film without knowing what exactly to expect, so when I sat down for last nights midnight screening of Ciarán Foy’s ‘Citadel’, there remained a whole world of possibilities as to what this film could be.
Festival buzz had already pegged it as one of the better movies programmed this year, however when the seasoned vet’s up in the projectionist booth decided to accidentally roll a few minutes of the film during the pre-show, I was left with the impression that I was for some reason going to be watching a movie about an Irish Conor Oberst doppelganger who just runs around with a baby for 77 minutes. However once the film officially started rolling and I saw the logo for the Irish Film Council pop up, all my worries were easily put to bed.
Citadel is marketed as a horror film, but at its core is a beautiful dramatic narrative that also just so happens to contain elements of horror. It is the story Tommy (Aneurin Barnardman), a man suffering from agoraphobia who is left to fend for himself and his infant daughter when his wife is brutally murdered by a strange group of hooded children. As time passes the attacks continue as these mysterious figures continue to terrorize both Tommy and the ones around him. As all of his support structures begin to buckle and fold around him, Tommy must hasten to decide whether to rise up and overcome his fears, or to lose the ones he loves because of them. What follows is one of the most invigorating horror stories and human dramas that I have seen not just this year, but in a long time.
One of the main reasons Citadel works so well is because of the truly splendid performance put forth by actor Aneurin Barnardman. This is a film the literally hinges on his ability to act, and could have just as easily been as insultingly terrible as ‘Modus Anomali’ was had it not been cast right. Barnardman from frame one is able to instantly embody the fearful nature of his character and because of this, his fears and his anxieties transverse the 2 dimensions of the movie screen and cast themselves seamlessly upon the audience. It also didn’t hurt that he had the amazing talents of one James Cosmo (Braveheart, Trainspotting), and Wunmi Mosaku to prop up his performance.
Even without its wonderful ensemble cast, this film is still absolutely beautiful to look at. The whole thing is shot using this dreary grey scale that is becoming more and more the signature of Irish films, and when these greys are painted over the hauntingly desolate concrete jungles that makeup the film’s backdrop, magic happens. Director Ciarán Foy is also no amateur when it comes to shot composition. One of my favorite bad guy reveals in recent memory happened during this film when Foy has one of his villains appear faintly in the reflection of a tea kettle. I was constantly bombarded by these frenzied shots and cuts that I had seen fail in countless movies at this festival alone, yet for some reason Ciarán was able to make every single one of them work perfectly.
The film’s villains were also wonderfully executed. There is an interesting level of fear that comes with not being able to see an enemies face. It leaves open a whole world of possibilities as to what kind of creature may be stalking you, and is thus infinitely more terrifying. Foy also chose to keep his little monsters under very tight leash, unleashing them only when the story absolutely called for it. Because of this, the dramatic arc that Tommy must undergo both in concern to overcoming his fears, as well as acceptance of his roll as father, is allowed to flourish.
Now sure, there are a few moments in the film where your suspension of disbelief momentarily falters, but the simple fact of the matter is that this his a horror film, and with any fantastic genre, unbelievable things are likely going to occur. What counts is how long the filmmakers are able to get you to buy into this world and 75 out of 77 minutes that was achieved here with Citadel is a fairly sizable time. For awhile there I was starting to believe that it was time to once again give up on the horror genre as a whole, but both this film and Cabin In The Woods have not only reinvigorated my passion for the genre, but reminded me why I love movies in the first place.
Go out and see Citadel if you get the chance, you won’t regret it!
[Rating:4/5]
Want to see more? Watch the spine chilling trailer for the film below:
