Unwelcome (2023) promises a chilling dive into dark Irish folklore; upon viewing the trailer, one might even say, “Wow, that looks like a great bit of supernatural horror.” Yet what the audience is left with is a muddled film, unable to decide on a tone, message, or even purpose. Presenting itself as a folktale come to life, the film takes inspiration from the Far Darrig (or rather attempts to); these malevolent fairies are known throughout Ireland as gruesome tricksters. Warning: spoilers following. 

The premise is simple enough: a young expectant couple inherits a home from a distant aunt in the Irish countryside. Having recently fallen victim to a brutal gang attack, Jamie and Maya are relieved to get out of the city, but unbeknownst to them, the property comes with certain peculiarities. Upon taking ownership of the property, their neighbor, Niamh, explains that their deceased Aunt Maeve was a believer in ‘the old ways.’ Every evening, she would leave an offering of raw, bloody liver by the garden gate for the Far Darrig, or the Redcaps, as they are often called. Maya promises to keep the tradition going in honor of the woman who gave them a place to raise their soon-to-be-born child. 

The Cracks Begin to Show

This should lay the foundation of the film. Clear rules have been explained. The Redcaps must be appeased with an offering of blood every evening or incur their wrath. Nope. While the film does begin to set this up, having Maya immediately forget to set out the offering, this is where Unwelcome begins to collapse under the weight of its own inconsistencies and loose plot threads. The offering ritual completely disappears halfway through the film, and when it is mentioned, it is mostly off-screen, often never confirming whether or not Maya actually left the offering. Why bother to set this up as the primary conflict if only to treat it as an afterthought? 

 A subplot is introduced in what feels like minutes into the film, involving Maeve making a pact with the Redcaps to save her dying husband, and as payment, they took her infant daughter. However, this only creates more questions. It is established early on that Maeve’s husband did, in fact, die of pneumonia, so why did they take the child? Or did the husband not die of pneumonia, but everyone thinks he did? Or was he saved by the Redcaps from some other ailment only to die of pneumonia shortly thereafter? Audiences will never know because the film never decides.

Halfway through the film, the plot shifts out of nowhere to focus on tensions with the shady Whelan family, whom Maya and Jamie have hired to fix their roof. It is clear the family is violent and prone to crime, so as to why the recently traumatized couple would hire them to do the work is baffling and no explanation is given. For a while, the film completely forgets about the Far Darrig, but when the creatures do finally appear and intervene, their motives have shifted from murderous to protective without any explanation.

A Folklore Nit-Pick

While changing up the folklore rules may have been intentional by the filmmakers, it is important to point out that the Far Darrig and the Redcaps are two separate entities from two different cultures. The Far Darrig, also referred to as the Redman or Rat Boys, come from Irish folklore and are described as fat, small in stature, with long, ugly noses and red hair, according to YourIrish.com. They are sometimes depicted with hairy or dirt-covered skin and wear red capes and a red tri-point or Santa-like hat. They are known for kidnapping people in sacks and keeping them captive merely to scare them before letting them go or sometimes playing more violent practical jokes. 

According to godsandmonsters.info, Redcaps, however, are from Scottish or Anglo-Scottish tradition and are described as small, murderous, goblin-like beings. They have blood red eyes, long fingers with talon-like claws, and gray or black hair to their shoulders.