‘The Beldham’ (2024)

A horror mystery thriller, ‘The Beldham’ follows Harper (Katie Parker), a young woman struggling with being a single mother who moves to her family home to help Sadie (Patricia Heaton) flip the house. Also helping the two is young Bette (Emma Fitzpatrick) and Sadie’s partner Frank (Corbin Bernsen). Drawn to certain places in the house, Harper feels something is off and that a dark presence is lurking amongst them. 

Delivered from Harper’s perspective, ‘The Beldham’ follows the woman as she struggles to take care of herself and her infant daughter. Aided by Frank, Harper is helped into Sadie’s house and the two look forward to flipping the house. Unbeknownst to Harper, Bette is also there to help, with Harper growing suspicious of Sadie’s well-being and underestimating how much help she may need.

Also revealed to be recovering from a near-fatal car accident, Harper grows suspicious of a presence in the house. Anticipating the worst, the young woman becomes protective of her daughter and acts erratically, believing there is an old crow-like woman haunting their home. With the lines becoming increasingly blurred, the film toys with the idea that Harper is suffering as motherhood weighs down on her.

Perhaps imagined, the terrifying spectre seen by Harper is up for debate when she is shown not getting enough sleep, tortured by stress and also revealed to have had an episode, causing a fugue-like state, during which she walked into traffic resulting in her injuries.

With Sadie growing increasingly concerned, Harper is torn from her child and confined to her bedroom. Exploring further the themes of immurement whilst also toying with the idea that Harper is an unreliable narrator, the film successfully compounds intrigue with mystery and allows for suspense to ramp up naturally.

Amping up on the horror side at the same time, ‘The Beldham’ may not contain a slew of scares and jumps, but the handful that it does serve well to convey the terror Harper is experiencing, not only from having lost her freedom and with sanity slowly drifting further away, but most importantly, she is terrified at the thought of losing her baby.

The amalgam of Harper’s fears materialise and are impersonated through the beldham, - an old woman with the face of a crow. Haunting her nights, the bird-like woman appears before her and is shown looming large over Harper’s child’s crib, seemingly there to prey on it. The foremost fear for any mother, the beldham haunts Harper as she struggles to make sense of the world as it seemingly collapses in on her. Illustrating the horror well, Parker’s portrayal of a mother desperate and heartbroken imbues true horror into the feature and leaves a lasting impression even on those who are not parents.

Not entirely focused on the creature as the ultimate evil, the story unfolds to reveal that Harper, instead of being Sadie’s daughter, as could have been interpreted initially, is actually her mother. Having lost a daughter decades ago, now an old woman, Harper is revealed to have moved in with her daughter and granddaughter Bette to be looked after.

With her advanced age and the trauma resurfacing, Harper is slowly eased back into reality with the help of her family. A total gut punch, the film skews and takes a wholly unexpected path when it chooses the dramatic route for its third act and conclusion. With Harper revealed as an elderly lady and Sadie only wanting to take care of her, the movie jerks a few tears and chooses to complete the tale on a heartfelt tone. An unexpected twist, ‘The Beldham’ will make for an entirely unique experience on a second watch.

Maybe not appropriately labelled as a horror film, the movie does have a few effective, albeit familiar, scares. Successfully marrying elements of horror, suspense and interpersonal drama, the film delivers on many fronts and uses multiple genres to push across a deep sense of loss and fear whilst also highlighting the importance of family and the healing power that togetherness can bring.

Score: 3/4