CULLING
DIRECTED BY MATTY CRAWFORD
UNITED KINGDOM // 2020
14 MINS
A young man tries to save a cow from slaughter, whilst two boys trawl through treacherous and desolate terrain, escaping an invisible threat.
UK Student Award Jury comments:
CULLING creates a tense and unsettling atmosphere from the opening frame. With its stark black and white photography, sharp editing and folk horror aesthetic, this is a confident and assured piece of work that lingers long in the memory and marks the filmmaking team out as fresh new talents to watch.
Reflective Encounters
“Visceral and haunting, director Matty Crawford relishes making his audience feel uncomfortable. Culling is the kind of film that stays not only in your mind but under your fingernails and tangled up in your chest.
Culling is very clearly made by filmmakers who adore cinema. The allusions to Mark Jenkin and Robert Eggers - one moment, in particular, paying homage to The VVitch’s breakout star Black Phillip - are made with a wryness that doesn’t take you out of the action. Grim, dark humour pierces through the horror of the movie, adding to its building sense of dread. You simply can’t look away from the screen, even when you kind of want to.
With its aesthetic confidence and gritty willingness to find surreal, horror-tinged images hidden in the mundanity of rural life, Culling is the kind of film that will either attract or repel viewers. It feels as though either reaction would be appropriate and satisfying to Crawford and his team, who have created a film that screams out to be felt and experienced, rather than consumed without impact.”
— Malaika Kegode