Irish-language horror Fréwaka, from director Aislinn Clarke (The Devil's Doorway), has been picked up by Shudder for a North American, U.K., Irish, Australian and New Zealand release, Variety have reported today.
Fréwaka – which features both the Irish and English language – stars Clare Monnelly, Bríd Ní Neachtain and Aleksandra Bystrzhitskaya, and follows:
[…] home care worker Shoo, who is sent to a remote village to care for an agoraphobic woman who fears the neighbors as much as she fears the Na Sídhe — sinister entities who she believes abducted her decades before. As the two develop a strangely deep connection, Shoo is consumed by the old woman’s paranoia, rituals, and superstitions, eventually confronting the horrors from her own past.
Expressing her excitement for the acquisition, Clarke commented:
“I’ve followed Shudder since its inception and have seen it grow to become a world-leading platform for smart, daring, and exciting films, at the very cutting edge of new horror […] I am thrilled to work with Shudder in bringing Fréwaka to an international audience.”
Fréwaka coming to Shudder marks another win for Irish horror and Irish horror filmmakers who continue changing the horror game – Lee Cronin, Damian McCarthy and Kate Dolan, to name but a few.
Shudder’s senior vice president of acquisitions and production Emily Gotto further commented on Fréwaka‘s celebration of culture, which is reportedly “the first Irish-language horror film”:
“After her striking debut The Devil’s Doorway, we are thrilled to collaborate with Aislinn Clarke on Fréwaka, an atmospheric and claustrophobic film deeply steeped in Irish folklore. It stands as the first horror film in the Irish language to grace the world’s most prestigious film festivals.”
Wildcard will release Fréwaka theatrically in Ireland in 2025, with no exact date set for its Shudder release. Those in the UK can catch the UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on October 11.
