What Pairs Best With Foot?

 

You know what subgenre doesn't get the credit it deserves? Dinner party horror. Give me an elegant shot of protein's greasy skin, the sparkle of a dangly earring frantically bouncing as the tense but impeccably dressed hostess pours the wine, and that moment of awkwardness when a guest asks the wrong question and what can I say? I'm very easy to satisfy.

Quick Plot: Upper class Gwyn and Glenda (THAT'S FUN TO SAY) are hosting a hoity toity soiree in their sprawling country estate with the last minute assistance from Cadi, a quiet local. Also in the mansion are spoiled adult sons Gweirydd (a triathlon athlete) and (maybe) recovering drug addict Guto.

Glenda doesn't seem to notice that Cadi has virtually nothing to say, mostly because the rich socialite seems to really enjoy the sound of her own voice. Her husband is equally insufferable as a member of parliament. Their first guest of the evening, Euros, is somehow even worse: he's a snobby businessman in charge of drilling for valuable minerals underneath farmland. 

Considering The Feast's first tag is "folk horror", you can guess where this is going. 

Throughout the evening, Cadi seems to absorb the rotten core of her employers, process it, and spit it right back out at them. These are awful people who take what they want with no regard for the land it comes from. They deserve a very, very bad night.

Witten by Roger Williams and directed by Lee Haven Jones, The Feast is a simple story with a clear message.  Making his feature film debut, Jones shows admirable skill behind the camera. The Feast looks and sounds impeccable. And then it gets very, very gross.

That's a good thing! There's an all-in style that I appreciate, even if it feels a little easy. This isn't an epic film or one for any all-time list, but it's a solid entry into the always welcome folk (and dinner party) horror. 

High Points

The overall tone of The Feast is positively intoxicating. Between Samuel Sim's moody score, Bjørn Ståle Bratberg 's rich cinematography, and the entire cast's unnerving performances, this is a sumptuous experience

Low Points

At barely 90 minutes long, it's perfectly reasonable for The Feast to feel small, but I do wish it threw in a teeny bit more of a challenge. Minor spoilers: the family is so unrepentantly awful that it's pretty hard for the audience to feel much actual tension once Cadi's hand is revealed. It's certainly satisfying, but I just wonder if there was a bit more room for surprise (and yes, I realize I'm saying this about a film where a character inserts a glass shard in her vagina and feeds a man his host's maggot-infested shin)

Lessons Learned

You won't find bok choy on a local grocery shelf

So much of early motherhood is cutting fruit into small pieces

A whole lot of work goes into making a pavlova

Rent/Bury/Buy

I caught The Feast as it was leaving Hulu, but it's likely moving to another streamer (it feels VERY Kanopy). Any fan of folk horror will find a lot to digest (SEEWHATIDIDTHERE).