Enys Men

UK 2022, 15, 91 mins

Enys Men, written, directed and photographed by Mark Jenkin, the second feature from the visionary mind of the Cornish filmmaker, follows 2019’s hand-crafted, BAFTA-winning breakout hit Bait.

Enys Men is a mind-bending Cornish folk horror set in 1973 that unfolds on an uninhabited island off the Cornish coast. A wildlife volunteer’s daily observations of a rare flower take a dark turn into the strange and metaphysical, forcing both her and viewers to question what is real and what is nightmare. Is the landscape not only alive but sentient? Shot by Jenkin on grainy 16mm colour film stock and with his trademark post-synched sound, the form feels both innovative and authentic to the period. Filmed on location around the disused tin mines of West Penwith, it is also an ode to Cornwall’s rich folklore and natural beauty.

Enys Men premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and was well received by critics. Mark Kermode, reviewing for The Guardian, gave the film five stars calling it ‘a richly authentic portrait of Cornwall’ and saying Woodvine’s performance was ‘quietly mesmerising.’ Adam Scovell, writing for BBC Culture, said that the film was ‘a perfect, anti-romantic expression of Cornish eeriness’.