The Cull Review (Tubi Frightfest Halloween 2026)

A fresh start opens festering wounds in this casually violent, intensely engaging Cornish folk horror.

Released from prison for a matricide he didn’t commit, Niall moves into an isolated woodland cabin. He plans to raise chickens and sink into the comfort blanket of life-shifting theism. But he immediately upsets the shady locals, and his humble return to society becomes a high-stakes fight for survival.

J.P. Davidson’s eccentric rural chiller is bleak, calculating and bizarrely therapeutic. Compact and deeply hermetic, it wraps you in a thicket of realism before kicking your teeth in with cold pragmatism. Minimalistic and wonderfully earthy, it owes as much to the social commentary naturalism of Ken Loach as it does to the improvisation of early Shane Meadows.

There is something quintessentially British about the film. Like Kill List, The Blood on Satan’s Claw, and Eden Lake, it’s a film born of a national obsession with private societies and regionalist tradition. Through relatable dialogue, authentic human idiosyncrasies, and naturalistic composition, Davidson dumps us in the middle of an overreactive feud. A bitter confrontation within a community worn down by poverty and boredom, and the drugs they take to mask it.

Character arcs develop organically with a documentary vibe. The viewer learns about the hidden secrets of Niall’s past and his capacity for destructive contingency in the same moments he does. This creates a synergy of revelation and repulsion that gives depth and complexity without the ballast of exposition. As such, we become hostages alongside him, locked in the sights of desperate individuals with an overdeveloped sense of injustice and little fear of consequence.

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Due to the bucolic realism and low-key ambiance, the bursts of violence hit different. Whilst retaining the overall grittiness, the carnage pops off the screen with unexpected gusto. The blood effects are superb, attaining a perfect balance of splatter and sophistication. The deaths feel as real as they do disproportionate. A major triumph for a film of this budget.

The cast are believable, working from a refreshingly streamlined script. Especially brilliant is Ollie McFarlane as the dangerous go-to guy Donny. His performance is one of tethered menace and cheeky charisma that impresses with its unforced delivery and dark comedic timing.

Davidson and his cinematographer Lily Grimes make fine use of their Mawgan Porth location. Mercifully short on drone shots, they give the rural landscape its own prominent part in the film without drowning out the actors or slowing the narrative. The visuals depicting the mystical elements of the story are handled with maturity and conviction. Genuinely creepy and finely tuned, these sequences enhance the intrigue and anchor the plot.

Brimming with independent spirit, working with local crew and actors and giving opportunities to Falmouth University students, it’s a production that recognises limitations but refuses to bow to them. Invoking folklore as an integral mechanic of the drama, rather than crowbarring it in as a vogueish prop, is key. This bucks a depressing genre trend, with an increasing number of horror movies plundering regional myths to paper over cracks in the imagination.

Atmospheric and aggressive, The Cull is a cleverly constructed folk horror well worth seeking out.

★★★★

World Premiere at Tubi Frightfest Halloween 2026, Oct 30th / Dir: J.P. Davidson / Cast: Craig Russell, Sarah Bowden, Ollie McFarlane, Rory Wilton / RED3FILMS / Cert TBC