Friday, 16 January 2015

CITADEL - Irish psychological horror film

Citadel (2012) is an independent Irish psychological horror film written and directed by Ciaran Foy. Tommy Cowley (Aneurin Barnard) is a widower who must raise his baby alone, after an attack by a gang leaves his wife dead and him suffering from agoraphobia.


The film is a metaphor; comparing Tommy’s struggle of raising a child (Elsa) as a single father to his fight against the demons trying to snatch her from him. Typical horror films use the metaphor of physical demons whereas Citadel is a metaphor for the psychological demons Tommy has to face being a single father.

While one can just look at his single father issues as another obstacle for him to overcome, it seems more obvious that director Ciaran Foy is particularly interested in Tommy's struggles with his infant than he is having him fight the demons that attacked his wife while she was still pregnant with baby Elsa.

Tommy is torn between the help of an understanding nurse and a vigilante priest (James Cosmo), he discovers that to be free of his fears, he must finally face the demons of his past and enter the one place that he fears the most which is the abandoned tower block of flats which is known as the Citadel where the demons congregate.


By
Eleanor Barrell, Katie Collier and Grace Sullivan


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