Frightfest Glasgow 2023: ‘Little Bone Lodge’ Review
Stars: Joely Richardson, Neil Linpow, Sadie Soverall, Harry Cadby, Roger Ajogbe, Euan Bennet | Written by Neil Linpow | Directed by Matthias Hoene
Matthias Hoene follows up the awesome Warriors Gate (a film I still LOVE to this day), which was a movie that dealt with time travel and featured a cast of thousands in HUGE action sequences, with Little Bone Lodge, a small-scale but oh-so-taut thriller that both conforms to and somehow also defies expectations and skewers stereotypical characterisations, continuously switching up the traditional hero and villain roles as it goes on.
During a stormy night in the Scottish Highlands, two criminal brothers on the run seek refuge in a desolate farmhouse. But after taking the resident family captive, they find the house holds even darker secrets of its own. Including a fearsome family matriarch who will stop at nothing to protect her kin and the shocking mysteries that surround their very existence…
By now the home invasion trope has been done to death and to varying degrees of success (including another Frightfest Glasgow film, Hunt Her Killer Her) but what if, if, the meek and mild heroine – who you’d expect to eventually fight back against her attackers – turned out to be anything but and the invaders, so determined and so ruthless, met their match in… Joely Richardson?!
Apart from the intriguing twist on a familiar story, what’s interesting about Little Bone Lodge is the film’s creation. You see the film was penned by one of its stars, Neil Linpow, after he struggled to get acting work and wanted to create something to act in. He also wanted to make a film that was inclusive and featured a character with autism but not make the film about autism – to represent a stratum of society in an honest manner (which is why the film had specific coaches, advisors etc. for that particular role) without making the character JUST be a figure of sympathy.
Surprisingly, it turns out Linpow can not only act – he is great in the role of Jack, running through the gamut of emotions and the character having one hell of an emotional journey – but he can write too. Little Bone Lodge‘s script is tight storytelling at its’ best. There’s not a wasted second of film, the quiet moments allow the audience to take a breather in between the tense nature of the rest of the film. Whilst those tense scenes, as Jack and Matty (Harry Cadby) realise they’re in more trouble than their “hosts,” are knife-edge scenes. Even more so as the film comes to its conclusion and Joely Richardson’s Mama (for that’s all she’s ever called in the film) becomes more unhinged!
A world away from any of director Matthias Hoene’s other films, Little Bone Lodge is a super slice of familial horror that, given Joely Richardson’s involvement, will hopefully get him, Linpow, and the film the recognition they truly deserve.
***** 5/5
Little Bone Lodge screened on Saturday, March 11th as part of this year’s Glasgow Frightfest.
