Nerdly » ‘Unwelcome’ VOD Review

08th Mar2023

‘Unwelcome’ VOD Review

by Kevin Haldon

Stars: Hannah John-Kamen, Douglas Booth, Colm Meaney, Chris Walley, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Kristian Nairn, Niamh Cusack | Written by Jon Wright, Mark Stay | Directed by Jon Wright

Well my friends I have officially seen what I consider to be my best of 2023… So far of course, I mean it’s only March. However I kid you not, Unwelcome is exactly what you need WHEN you need it. A low key top quality cast, gorgeous sprawling Irish landscapes, a wicked smart script and outrageously awesome practical Goblins. Yes, you read that right and I will say it again Goblins people we are dealing with fricking Goblins.

Director of 2009s Tormented (if you have not seen it, look it up) Jon Wright comes at us with Unwelcome, where we find a young married couple, newly pregnant Maya and Jamie, brutally attacked in their London flat by a group of Roadmen (my daughter’s words). A short time later a relative of Jamie has died and left them a beautiful house in the Irish countryside. However, it does come with a couple of strings attached. The house is a bit of a fixer-upper, so our couple end up hiring a local family of builders who are mega creepy and unorthodox.

The other catch is that every night they have to feed the murderous evil Goblins that live beyond the wall at the bottom of the garden to keep them happy and at bay. When things begin to turn on their head with the creepy family and the Goblins, who will Maya turn to, to protect her unborn child?

Let’s start with our aforementioned low key top quality cast. Starting with Maya, played by Hannah John-Kamen who has finally been put in a role she can stretch herself a bit more. Far too many times has it felt like there was more to come from this actress. In Unwelcome it felt like she had been told to run with it as she strikes a sweet balance of the crazy highs to the manic lows. She is utterly superb as Maya and those closing stages are just gorgeous. Douglas Booth as Jamie nails the compromised husband struggling to come to terms with the fact that he couldn’t defend his wife and unborn child determined to never let it happen again.

Now the creepy family, with the always sensational Colm Meaney as Daddy… Let’s be honest Meany can’t put in a bad role and this was no exception. As daughter Aisling we have Derry Girls fave Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, who is an absolute scene-stealer bringing that harsh biting Irish humour in all the best ways. Of course, she is part of a young sibling duo paired with relative newcomer Chris Walley (Young Offenders) as Daddy’s son Killian and rounding out the Whelan family we have Hodor himself, Kristian Nairn, as Eoin in a somewhat meatier role than his usual.

Jon Wright and Mark Stay have created a mixture of urban realism with madcap Irish humour that I personally think hits each and every mark. There is also this superb grade going on over the Irish backdrop that serves to enhance the hyper-surrealism of the Goblin element, slowly creeping in so that when they appear you can’t think anything other than “yeah that tracks”. Unwelcome is not a perfect movie for sure but it does it’s best to stay 100 per cent true to itself, and keeps its tongue firmly in its cheek, with a knowing commitment to entertain its audience. For this I thank Jon Wright, there are too many movies out there right now that are supposed to be one thing but try like hell to convince you that it’s something else. That’s not to say that you can’t have that underlying message which in your Irish Goblin movie. Unwelcome absolutely does.

Unwelcome is an absolute blast of a movie that comes out of nowhere and entertains the hell out of you with its quirky shenanigans and twisted sense of humour… and some quality kills!