Starve Acre

Starve Acre is set in rural Yorkshire in the 1970s, where Richard and Juliette move into the house Richard inherited from his father, hoping the countryside air will help their young son Owen, who has asthma. Their lives come apart as Owen changes and the couple, grieving and divided, each seek their own answer: Richard digs into the local folklore and the land itself, while Juliette turns to those who claim the dead can still be reached. Neither finds comfort, and the place they live in seems to hold something older and hostile.

Daniel Kokotajlo directed and wrote the film, following his debut Apostrophe, and the cast is led by Matt Smith as Richard and Morfydd Clark as Juliette, with Arthur Shaw as Owen, Erin Richards, Sean Gilder and Melanie Kilburn. It was produced by Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell and Emmy Duffy for Access Entertainment, BBC Film, BFI and Brainstorm Media, and runs 98 minutes.

The film drew a mixed response. On IMDb it holds 5.5/10 from around 5,000 votes, and on TMDB 5.9/10 from roughly 108 votes, while the critics' rating stands at 6.5/10 from 73 reviews, noticeably higher than what general audiences gave it. That gap suggests a film appreciated more for its craft and atmosphere than enjoyed as straightforward horror.