Gwen (15)
Directed by William McGregor

THE MORNING STAR’S new ambassador Maxine Peake stars in this dark and disturbing gothic folk tale set in 1855 Snowdonia during the industrial revolution.

Teenager Gwen (a revelatory Eleanor Worthington-Cox) is trying to keep her family and home together against all the odds. Her father has not returned from war and she is struggling with her mother’s mysterious illness while looking after her younger sister (Jodi Innes) and battling a ruthless mining company hell-bent on taking their farm and land.

Bleak and gritty, writer-director William McGregor’s debut feature is a slow-burning mystery-cum-horror which explores the plight of women in 19th-century north Wales.

It reveals the bullying criminal tactics used by large wealthy company owners to get what they want with impunity. That includes murder.

When Gwen and her mother (Peake) wake up to find all their sheep have been slaughtered, the former immediately thinks it is the work of the local mining company, particularly as their neighbours’ flock suffered the same fate, followed by their farm being burnt down with them in it.

As if it’s another protagonist, the stark Snowdon landscape illustrates this story of desperation and hardship, with the family’s plight exacerbated by mistrust from the local community.

The film is driven by powerhouse performances from Worthington-Cox and Peake, who delivers as ever a rich and nuanced portrayal as a woman desperately trying to keep up appearances and some semblance of normality for her girls.

But the reality is that her waning health is making it ever-impossible to protect them.

In some ways reminiscent of novels by Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens, Gwen is a fascinating character study of a mother-daughter relationship, where the child is forced to take on the responsibilities of the parent.

Brutal and harrowing,  it’s a sobering tale with a sobering ending, and quite difficult to watch at times.

But it will haunt you long after the end credits have stopped rolling.