MANDRAKE *** UK 2022 Dir: Lynne Davison. 85 mins
Upon her release from prison, Mary (Derbhle Crotty) is assigned social worker Cathy (Deirdre Mullins) to keep her on the straight and narrow. Mary knows too much about Cathy’s personal life and begins taunting her.
Being folklore horror, there also happens to be a demon. Whilst they did begin to build tension and suspense, the reveal of the ‘monster’ comes all too quickly. They picked this up again for the second half only to forget it’s potential and gives us a half-hearted ending in which we must come to our own conclusion.
The casting was superb as they all managed to bring their characters to life. All provide strong performances and there were some talented youngsters that will hopefully find success.
Lynne Davison makes a great attempt for her first feature and I believe the only downfall was the writing needing a little work.
It is certainly well worth a watch and I look forward to seeing what Davison comes up with next, especially with additional experience.
Review by Poppy Blundell
MANDRAKE is out now on Shudder