We were joined on the Popternative show by director William Brent Bell (The Boy, Orphan: First Kill) to discuss his new folk horror film, Lord of Misrule, released in theaters and on VOD December 8th, 2023. Written by Tom de Ville (Urban Gothic, The Quiet Ones), the film stars Tuppence Middleton (Sense8, War & Peace), Ralph Ineson (The Green Knight, The Witch), Matt Stokoe (The Hunt for Raoul Moat, Jamestown), and Evie Templeton (Return to Silent Hill, Pinocchio).
Lord of Misrule follows Rebecca Holland (Tuppence Middleton), who has recently taken over as priest of a small town when her young daughter Grace (Evie Templeton) goes missing during the local harvest festival. As the search for Grace begins, secrets emerge from the town’s dark past. Soon, Rebecca must decide just how much she is willing to sacrifice to rescue her daughter from the grip of evil.
In our interview, William discusses the genre of folk horror and his fascination with Paganism:
“To me, what’s cool about it is it’s all based in fact, it’s all real history that these Pagan festivals are based on. And we just assume that all this Paganism is just something that they’re celebrating in a superficial way, then there’s the idea that maybe people still do believe in this stuff, and how terrifying would it be if you’re an outsider in a place like this in a village realizing that they believe in such extreme religious views that could end your life or your child’s. It’s terrifying in that way because it could be real, and it was really fun in delving into it with local cast and crew, everybody had stories about this. For them it was about their childhood or local history, where as to me as an outsider, it’s fascinating that they really do have festivals with the Lord of Misrule and the Green Man.”
Watch the full conversation below.
Lord of Misrule is currently playing in theaters and is available on VOD.
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