The Morrigan
Now regarded as “a demon of myth and legend,” in the words of Fiona Scott, the Morrigan was an established figure in the oral tradition of ancient Celtic Ireland, a Pagan goddess of war and fate, regeneration and rebirth, with dominion over animals, her history corrupted by the records of invading Christians who overwrote her deeds from a patriarchal viewpoint, Doctor Scott believing the scant surviving documents indicate she may have been a real person.
The last stand of the Morrigan and her followers on Annan, Doctor Scott proposes an expedition to the island to explore the labyrinth beneath the ruined monastery, but there are conditions, the theory hers but the dean placing her as assistant to her supervisor Jonathan Horner, a man with wandering hands and a degree in mansplaining, Fiona’s acrimonious split with her husband also necessitating teenage Lily, expelled from boarding school, accompany the trip.
An awkward archaeological dig of resentment and bitterness, the search for The Morrigan is an Irish folk horror written and directed by Colum Eastwood based on his 2015 short of the same name, though extension from sixteen minutes to feature has not been accompanied by similar expansion of the concept to a full narrative beyond the quickly established possession premise which parallels much of The Mummy reawakened earlier this year.
Starring Deep Blue Sea’s Saffron Burrows as Fiona, furious at the compromises forced upon her by the old boys club but determined to demonstrate her worth in order to earn tenure, Emily Flain is Lily, coming across less as a misunderstood, overlooked and frustrated child than as a surly spoiled brat who takes what she wants and leaves others to pick up the pieces, fuelled by vodka and determined to sabotage her mother’s career break out of sheer spite.
With Severance‘s Toby Stephens as Malachy, widower owner of the island, and Highlander’s James Cosmo as uncle Francis, a priest and expert in folklore, despite strict instruction it must be opened in a controlled environment Lily opens the stone sarcophagus found in the chambers of the labyrinth, perhaps compelled by the force within, though as all the ensemble act on poorly thought out impulses rather than a sense of coherent character it is difficult to tell.
Lily coughing up hairballs and tar before hunting the men across the island, picking them off or sending crows after them, with the exception of an inventive attempted exorcism The Morrigan has nowhere to escape to and little plan other than jumping bodies when threatened, the theme of the goddess being a beacon around which women gather to smash the patriarchy lost in the murk and dull characters and the sense of motherhood as a driving force better presented behind the doors of The Orphanage.
The Morrigan will be available on digital download in the UK and Ireland from Monday 29th June
