HORROR MOVIE REVIEW: MANDRAKE (2022)

The ending may leave you with more questions than answers, but it is not unnecessarily confusing, and we do get a complete story at the end of the tight, 85-minute run time, although we may not have seen the last of Bloody Mary!
Overall, Mandrake is a solid folk-horror that will intrigue fans of the genre. ​ 

Mandrake (2022)
Written by Matt Harvey
Directed by Lynne Davison


A probation officer, Cathy Madden, is tasked with rehabilitating a notorious killer named 'Bloody' Mary Laidlaw back into society following a two-decade sentence. (IMDB)

A Horror Movie Review by Mark Walker 

Some very mild spoilers for Mandrake follow


Mandrake follows probation officer, Cathy (Deirdre Mullins) after she takes on newly-released killer, ‘Bloody’ Mary (Derbhle Crotty) as her new ward. Mary was put away for killing her husband 20 years previously, but old wounds run deep and, as well as having to deal with Mary’s strange behaviour, Cathy finds herself facing the wrath of the locals who don’t want Mary, who they believe is a witch, anywhere near them.

The community’s fears are realised when two kids go missing, and Mary becomes the obvious target of the pitchfork (shotgun) wielding locals. As the tension increases, Cathy finds herself caught between her duty, the locals, and the law in the shape of her ex-husband, Jason (Paul Kennedy)


When the children’s bodies are discovered, posed with paganistic wooden trinkets, things just go from bad to worse and Cathy becomes embroiled in a situation that puts her and her family at risk. 

On the surface, Mandrake is a competently made folk-horror with all the requisite elements; a close community, tragedy, a suspicious loner, foreboding landscapes and brooding locals who live in fear of things they don’t understand. As the story evolves, we discover more about Mary and what her plans are; was she responsible for the murdered children? Who or what is the strange figure wandering the woodlands and is it related to Mary?

However, dig a little deeper and Mandrake is also a story about family and what you might do to protect yours. Following her divorce, Cathy’s life is in turmoil now her son lives with her ex and his new partner, who he has begun to refer to as “mummy.” Cathy’s inability to have any more children is an underlying issue that fuels her love for her son, but which is also used against her by Mary, whose own pain Is reflected in Cathy’s, as her son was taken from her when she was arrested.

Despite their very different backgrounds, it becomes clear that Cathy and Mary may have more in common than they might first admit. Mary may even be trying to help Cathy reconnect with her family at the same time as she is reconnecting with her own, but Cathy and Mary clearly have vastly different approaches to healing their pain.

By the end of the film there is more at stake than simple mother-son relationships. People are in danger and Mary’s actions have serious repercussions for everyone.


First time director Lynne Davison has done a great job of realising Mandrake as a creepy folk horror that is full of mystery and creeping dread as we slowly discover Mary’s plans and the horror she has in store for Cathy and the locals. By following the conventions of the genre, however, there are few surprises for the audience, although there are still a couple of tense scenes towards the end of the film that had me second-guessing how they would play out. 

IMDB currently has it scored at 4.5 which I think is a little harsh, although that is based on just three reviews so far (at time of writing). Rotten Tomatoes has it at a much more healthy 91% and I think I would place it somewhere between the two. Part of the criticism will no doubt come from the slightly open ending, and I have talked before about how I dislike endings that are confusing just for the sake of it. Some people won’t like the ending to Mandrake, but I did. We do at least get an ending, we just don’t quite know if it is the ‘ending ending,’ as the finale of the film is left open for what might come next. That’s all I want to say without giving everything away, but it is what you expect from a film set in the folk-horror genre: things are always a bit confusing. We are taken into a realm of witches and spells and woodland spirits, a place in which we don’t normally dwell and which we sure as shit don’t understand, so we can’t always expect to know exactly what is going on. There is always some weirdness and perhaps only Mary knows the truth. This puts us on a level playing field with the other characters as they try to work out what is going on at the same time as the audience.


So, yeah, despite the criticisms I enjoyed Mandrake. I may be slightly biased as I have a soft spot for folk-horror tales and always enjoy a bit of witchcraft and creepiness. It’s not overly scary, but the two leads work really well together, two women struggling to make sense of their lives and repair past wounds with varying levels of success.
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The ending may leave you with more questions than answers, but it is not unnecessarily confusing, and we do get a complete story at the end of the tight, 85-minute run time, although we may not have seen the last of Bloody Mary!
Overall, Mandrake is a solid folk-horror that will intrigue fans of the genre. ​​

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