STARVE ACRE

By Daniel KOKOTAJLO

BFI DISTRIBUTION - BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE - as DISTR

Thriller - Completed 2022


    • Year of production
    • 2022
    • Genres
    • Thriller, Horror
    • Countries
    • UNITED KINGDOM
    • Languages
    • ENGLISH
    • Director(s)
    • Daniel KOKOTAJLO
    • Writer(s)
    • Daniel KOKOTAJLO
    • Producer(s)
    • Tessa ROSS, Juliette HOWELL, Emma DUFFY
    • Synopsis
    • 1970s, rural England. Richard and Juliette's seemingly idyllic family life is thrown into turmoil when their son Ewan starts acting out of character, and unexpectedly dies creating an insurmountable wedge between the once happy couple.

      At their remote family home, Starve Acre, archaeologist Richard buries his grief by excavating near the oak tree on their land to investigate a folkloric myth that the tree is imbued with mystic powers. As his obsession grows, he discovers the skeleton of a large hare embedded in its ancient roots. Keeping the skeleton in a shoebox inside the house, he is stunned when he sees it start to grow flesh back on its bones.
      Juliette, stricken with guilt and despair, is introduced to a local woman who conducts a spiritual meditation to connect with Ewan’s spirit. This triggers a dramatic change in Juliette, seemingly lifting her out of her depression. As the hare reanimates and eventually comes to life, she begins to bond with it as a mother would with a newborn.

      In the vein of HEREDITARY and THE WITCH, STARVE ACRE is a brooding and stylistic folk horror exploring inherited trauma and loss in a world ruled by supernatural myth.