Stories rooted in Irish folklore have shown audiences time and again that there is something chilling in the Emerald Isles and Paul Duane’s All You Need Is Death is no exception. A haunted and haunting tale that weaves together ancient folk tales, Irish ballads, and cosmic horror, the film proves to be a satisfying watch even when all the pieces may not fit perfectly together.
Anna (Simone Collins) and Aleks (Charlie Maher) travel around Ireland collecting rare Irish folk ballads. These aren’t the typical songs of pub singalongs but incredibly local songs and variants that appeal to rare song collectors. The couple brings news of an incredibly rare, ancient ballad known only to a woman named Rita Concannon (Olwen Fouéré) to a rare song appraiser Agnes (Catherine Siggins, giving a coolly superb Isabella Rossellini impression). The trio’s obsessive quest for the “song with no name” leads them on a path to damnation as the disturbing folk song is warned to unleash hell…literally.
There are many exciting ideas in Duane’s screenplay too. Exploring the notion of who owns aural history and traditions passed on through song is one that fits nicely within the genre. Diving deep into Irish language and culture, the story builds upon the notion that love is a possessive thing as the Irish translation of “I love you” is more akin to being overtaken by someone else’s feelings. Love is a powerful force within the storyline and is one that is presented in various ways through the film’s characters. The Beatles may have been adamant that “all you need is love”, but here, love is not all sunshine and rainbows, but blood and sacrifice. While this notion and plot thread feels developed, other threads within the film feel flimsy and unexplored. Who are these rare song collectors and why do they want to possess these folk ballads? Is Rita Concannon’s ancient ballad the Holy Grail of songs? The shadowy organization that deals in collectible folk songs doesn’t feel like a fully formed idea and is a thread left dangling after an intriguing first act.
Flat-out horror scares are absent in All You Need Is Death, replaced with increasingly dark and worrying images steeped in atmosphere. Anna and Aleks hunt for songs at night, which provides plenty of opportunity for Duane to pepper the film with shots of car headlights illuminating the immediate darkness, leaving Anna and Aleks blind to what’s ahead of them. Add to that an incredibly eerie and unsettling score by Ian Lynch, unsurprising in a film rooted in song, and there’s an all-encompassing sense of dread permeating every scene.
It all builds to a wild third act, which leans hard into cosmic horror and presents audiences with an incomprehensible vision. While not a wholly successful narrative shift, Duane comes pretty darn close to sticking the landing, delivering a final gut punch that may feel unexpected. Where the film manages to lose some steam is the portrayal of its evil entity. Perhaps more a casualty of the budget than storytelling, the inconsistency of what this malevolent force can and will do is nevertheless not a major detriment of the film which redeems itself with some satisfying body horror practical effects.
Arriving on VOD and in select U.S. theatres on April 11, All You Need Is Death is the latest in the Celtic folk horror genre that will appeal to fans of You Are Not My Mother, A Hole in the Ground and Men.
