The Severed Sun

Opening with a poisoning and mutilation of the body, in a rural/forest area, writer and director Dean Puckett appears to be setting up a classic folk horror story.

The murderer, Magpie (Emma Appleton) does this in plain view of her sons Sam (Zachary Tanner) and David (Lewis Gribben), who are well aware of his abuse under their roof.

Less certain but surely aware that there was a problem is her father the Pastor (Toby Stephens), leader of a closed religious’ patriarchal cult. However sensing that he could lose control he assigns John (Barney Harris) to spy on them. And he witnesses some incidents that suggest there is something more supernatural going on with a beast appearing to kill the abusive men of the village.

At the same time the cult members are getting whipped up against Magpie and her family. Led by Andrea (Jodhi May) who has her own problems at home yet turns a blind eye.

The folk horror tropes are all here with the setting, small, isolated settlement, vulnerability, bullying and a creature. And they are played well. Puckett has however weaved in other elements such as domestic abuse and the silence and selective blindness that can sometimes occur when it occurs.

The sparse budget is at times obvious, for example the cultists marching pitchforks in hand to throw fruit a tied-up Magpie. That said Puckett makes very good use of the countryside and the light available to him. And The Beast (James Swanton) is well realised and kind of unsettling.

Expanded from Puckett’s 2018 short film The Sermon, the main issue is that the film looks stilted and look stagey for most of its duration, and there are times when it feels drawn out even though it is only eighty minutes in length.

The Severed Sun will have select Q&A screenings from 29 September 2025, and will be on UK and Irish digital platforms 6 October 2025