Enys Men

In 1973 on an uninhabited island off the Cornish coast, a wildlife volunteer's daily observations of a rare flower turn into a metaphysical journey that forces her as well as the viewer to question what is real and what is nightmare.

The only feature that suggests a continuous flow of time (though highly sped up) is the appearance of a fruticose lichen growing on the flowers over three days and simultaneously on the protagonist's body. She has a nebulous relationship with a sinister standing stone, a teenage girl who may be her daughter or younger self, a mysterious preacher who may be her father, a group of older women, and another group of young girls, a collection of ghostly miners who haunt the island's tunnels, and her sole human contact, a fisherman with whom she may have once been in love.

• Mary Woodvine as The Volunteer
• Edward Rowe as The Boatman
• Flo Crowe as The Girl
• John Woodvine as The Preacher
• Joe Gray as The Miner
• Loveday Twomlow as The Baby
• Callum Mitchell as Sound Engineer

Jenkin was heavily inspired by the Cornwall landscape when developing the film. Commenting on his inspiration, he said: "As a typical Cornish person, I hold superstitions and have always been intrigued and haunted by standing stones, their history and mythologies. And I thought that was a good marriage of form and content for a genre film that I could make under the radar in and around Cornwall." Jenkin's childhood visits to The Merry Maidens stone circle in Cornwall were of particular influence. "These images stayed with me and, years later, I found myself lying awake, wondering about those stones, what might they be up to, under cover of darkness, out there on their own, on the moor, with no one watching. This was the starting point for Enys Men."

The film was shot in West Penwith over the course of 21 days in March and April 2021{{cite web|url=https://www.kodak.com/en/motion/blog-post/enys-men/|work=Kodak|title=Director Mark Jenkin uses KODAK 16mm Film to deliver a mind-bending experience for his Cornish 'folk horror' film 'Enys Men'|date=27 January 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250424052153/https://www.kodak.com/en/motion/blog-post/enys-men/|archive-date=24 April 2025|url-status=live}} during the COVID-19 lockdown, which necessitated a smaller crew than was planned. The crew set out for production to have a low carbon footprint, producing only 4.55 tonnes of {{CO2}} (compared with around 3000 tonnes for a typical film) which was offset.{{cite news |last=Morris |first=Steven |date=6 January 2023|title='Interest is off the scale': Cornish cinema fans snub Avatar for local folk horror |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jan/06/interest-is-off-the-scale-cornish-cinema-fans-snub-avatar-local-folk-horror-enys-men |newspaper=The Guardian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250216233123/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jan/06/interest-is-off-the-scale-cornish-cinema-fans-snub-avatar-local-folk-horror-enys-men|archive-date=16 February 2025|url-status=live}} The film was shot on 16 mm Kodak film stock using a Bolex H-16 SB camera, with Jenkin operating the camera himself.

Jenkin chose to film the exterior daytime sequences using Kodak Vision3 50D Color Negative Film, and frequently under-exposed his film stock for stylistic purposes.

Once completed, the exposed filmstock was processed at the Kodak Film Lab at Pinewood Studios before being scanned in 4K. The lab team were instructed to not perform any cleaning of the film, which would have removed dust or other particulates, and to refrain from performing any image stabilization.

Because the film was shot without a sound camera, all sound effects and dialogue were mixed via ADR in post-production using captured sound.{{cite web|work=Slant Magazine|title=Interview: Mark Jenkin on the Sounds and Sensations Behind Enys Men and Bait|last=Shaffer|first=Marshall|date=28 March 2023|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/mark-jenkin-interview-enys-men-bait/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417231612/https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/mark-jenkin-interview-enys-men-bait/|archive-date=17 April 2023}}

Jenkin composed the musical score for the film using an analog monophonic synthesizer and tape loop.{{cite web|url=https://www.ukfilmreview.co.uk/post/interview-with-enys-men-director-mark-jenkin|work=UK Film Review|title=Interview with Enys Men director Mark Jenkin|date=23 January 2023|last=MacRae|first=Alasdair|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240804174610/https://www.ukfilmreview.co.uk/post/interview-with-enys-men-director-mark-jenkin|archive-date=4 August 2024}} Gwenno Saunders composed the Celtic May song "Kan Me" that appears in the film's end credits.

Enys Men premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.{{cite magazine | last=Kiang | first=Jessica | url=https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/enys-men-review-1235272907/ | title='Enys Men' Review: A Gorgeously Grainy Folk Horror Steeped in Style but Starved of Story | magazine=Variety | date=27 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306051409/https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/enys-men-review-1235272907/|archive-date=6 March 2023|url-status=live}}{{cite web | last=Bradshaw | first=Peter | author-link=Peter Bradshaw | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/may/20/enys-men-review-mark-jenkin-cannes-2022 | title=Enys Men review – a supremely disquieting study of solitude | newspaper=The Guardian | date=20 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250216233123/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/may/20/enys-men-review-mark-jenkin-cannes-2022|archive-date=16 February 2025|url-status=live }}{{cite magazine | last=Ritman | first=Alex | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/enys-men-mark-jenkin-cannes-hidden-gem-1235152458/ |url-status=live|archive-date=24 April 2025|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250424040525/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/enys-men-mark-jenkin-cannes-hidden-gem-1235152458/ | title=Cannes Hidden Gem: Unsettling Rocks and Cornish Creeps in Mark Jenkin's 'Enys Men' | magazine=The Hollywood Reporter | date=24 May 2022 }}{{cite web | last=Wise | first=Damon | url=https://deadline.com/2022/05/enys-men-cannes-review-mark-jenkin-1235028906/ | title=Cannes Review: Mark Jenkin's 'Enys Men' | website=Deadline Hollywood | date=20 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527015047/https://deadline.com/2022/05/enys-men-cannes-review-mark-jenkin-1235028906/|archive-date=27 May 2022|url-status=live }}{{cite web | last=Latif | first=Leila | url=https://www.indiewire.com/2022/05/enys-men-review-1234725306/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250216233124/https://www.indiewire.com/2022/05/enys-men-review-1234725306/|archive-date=16 February 2025|url-status=live | title='Enys Men' Review: An Artfully Constructed Folk Horror Film About Never-Ending Grief | website=IndieWire | date=20 May 2022 }} In Bodmin, the film's opening night sold out within hours, and the film was a box office success for cinemas across Cornwall.

Neon acquired the film for North American distribution rights, giving it a limited theatrical release in the United States on 31 March 2023.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/enys-men-review-mark-jenkin-1235362561/|work=The Hollywood Reporter|title=‘Enys Men’ Review: A Woman’s Mind Unravels in Mark Jenkin’s Hypnotic Folk Horror|date=30 March 2023|last=James|first=Caryn|author-link=Caryn James|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250213113309/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/enys-men-review-mark-jenkin-1235362561/|archive-date=13 February 2025|url-status=live}}

The film was promoted bilingually, with posters being produced in both English and Cornish.{{cite web |last=Trewhela |first=Lee |title=Enys Men: Cornwall director Mark 'Bait' Jenkin's new film gets early screenings in the South West |url=https://www.cornwalllive.com/whats-on/film/enys-men-cornwall-director-mark-7882783 |website=Cornwall Live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250217180537/https://www.cornwalllive.com/whats-on/film/enys-men-cornwall-director-mark-7882783|archive-date=17 February 2025|url-status=live |date=1 December 2022}} It was thought to be the first instance of a distributed feature film having Cornish posters.{{cite web |title=Enys Men: Film poster a Cornish language breakthrough |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-63871232 |work=BBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206193718/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-63871232|archive-date=6 December 2022|url-status=live |date=6 December 2022}}

Neon premiered the film's theatrical trailer in the United States on 17 November 2022.{{cite web|url=https://www.fangoria.com/if-youre-into-folk-horror-you-gotta-watch-the-enys-men-trailer/|work=Fangoria|title=If You’re Into Folk Horror, You Gotta Watch The ENYS MEN Trailer|last=Wampler|first=Scott|date=17 November 2022|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250424043249/https://www.fangoria.com/if-youre-into-folk-horror-you-gotta-watch-the-enys-men-trailer/|archive-date=24 April 2025|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3740766/enys-men-trailer-neon-teases-unsettling-singular-new-british-folk-horror/?__cf_chl_tk=IKC5FnwzsFoYPhw9tJ6R.KSxOZA9t7JAJd1g6SeyYYQ-1745468365-1.0.1.1-eR9pnfAwiXqjS98pt8ysRB4T5BiecRDDsGewAecVoC4|work=Bloody Disgusting|title=‘Enys Men’ Trailer – NEON Teases Unsettling, Singular New British Folk Horror|last=Navarro|first=Meagan|date=17 November 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/wip/TDfuH|archive-date=24 April 2025}}{{cite web|url=https://movieweb.com/enys-men-trailer-breakdown/|work=MovieWeb|title=Enys Men Trailer Breakdown: A Horror Movie Ripped From the '70s|last=Shuman|first=B. Sean|date=22 November 2022|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250424042507/https://movieweb.com/enys-men-trailer-breakdown/|archive-date=24 April 2025|url-status=live}} In New York City, a giveaway drawing was held for a one-sheet poster of the film signed by writer-director Mark Jenkin.{{cite web|url=https://posteritati.com/unfolding/enys-men-neon-giveaway?srsltid=AfmBOoqFUo5F1aldUviV2oHr5rFuVsUKB2QLE1w0cQuNHFf1AKw1vViw|work=Posteritati|url-status=live|title=Enys Men Neon Giveaway|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250424043113/https://posteritati.com/unfolding/enys-men-neon-giveaway|archive-date=24 April 2025}}

Enys Men was released on dual format Blu-ray and DVD on 8 May 2023 via BFI distribution.{{cite web| title=Enys Men| url=https://hmv.com/store/film-tv/blu-ray/enys-men| website=HMV| archive-url=https://archive.today/20250424045901/https://hmv.com/store/film-tv/blu-ray/enys-men|archive-date=24 April 2025|url-status=live}} In the United States, the film was released on DVD by Decal Releasing on 23 May 2023.{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Enys-Men-DVD-Mary-Woodvine/dp/B0C13MLHBS|work=Amazon|title=Enys Men [DVD]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250424041447/https://www.amazon.com/Enys-Men-DVD-Mary-Woodvine/dp/B0C13MLHBS|archive-date=24 April 2025}}

In the United Kingdom, the film earned $74,781 during its opening weekend.{{cite web|url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Enys-Men-(2022-United-Kingdom)#tab=summary|work=The Numbers|title=Enys Men (2023) – Financial Information|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230826161046/https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Enys-Men-(2022-United-Kingdom)#tab=summary|archive-date=26 August 2023}} Its final domestic gross was $189,579, with an additional $392,774 internationally, making for a worldwide gross of $582,353.

{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|80|6.8|94|If its story's mysteries are ultimately less compelling than they might seem, Enys Men{{'}}s retro aesthetic and intriguingly abstract visuals make this a chilly treat for horror fans.|access-date=24 April 2025|ref=yes}} {{Metacritic film prose|78|28|ref=yes|access-date=24 April 2025}}

Mark Kermode, reviewing for The Guardian, gave the film five stars calling it "a richly authentic portrait of Cornwall" and saying Woodvine's performance was "quietly mesmerising".{{cite news |last=Kermode |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Kermode |title=Enys Men review – Mark Jenkin's Cornish psychodrama will sweep you away |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jan/15/enys-men-review-mark-jenkin-cornish-psychodrama-will-sweep-you-away |newspaper=The Guardian |archive-date=16 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250216233123/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jan/15/enys-men-review-mark-jenkin-cornish-psychodrama-will-sweep-you-away |date=15 January 2023}} Adam Scovell, writing for BBC Culture, said that the film was "a perfect, anti-romantic expression of Cornish eeriness".{{cite web |last=Scovell |first=Adam |title=Enys Men: The films that frighten us in unexplainable ways |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20230112-enys-men-the-films-that-frighten-us-in-unexplainable-ways |website=BBC Culture |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250216233123/https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20230112-enys-men-the-films-that-frighten-us-in-unexplainable-ways|archive-date=16 February 2025|url-status=live |date=12 January 2023}}

Caryn James of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film, noting that "it may take a second viewing to appreciate how intricately Jenkin has layered the film. The Volunteer reads by candlelight at night, always the same small book, A Blueprint for Survival (an actual book Jenkin found). Many of the visions from the past are juxtaposed with that reading, including a more-or-less 19th century pastor who gives a fiery sermon. A miner from the past reads the book while sitting on the toilet in the cottage, then calmly pulls up his pants and walks out the door...  All this is absorbing even when it is unclear, as the aesthetic pull and rhythm of the film make up for any confusion. Anyone looking for answers or clarity will probably flee the film early, but it rewards multiple viewings for anyone willing to engage with it."

Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times wrote of the film: "Jenkin summons the ghosts of lost fishermen and long-gone female mine workers, known as bal maidens, stoking an atmosphere thick with ancient anguish. As a mossy growth spreads from the flowers to the woman’s body, the film’s editing grows more jagged, its rough and rocky landscape — captured on breathtakingly evocative 16-millimeter film — increasingly alien and unnerving. At times, Jenkin’s bold, experimental style can perplex; but his vision is so unwavering and beholden to local history that his message is clear: On Enys Men, the earth remembers what the sea has taken."{{cite news|work=The New York Times|last=Catsoulis|first=Jeannette|title=‘Enys Men’ Review: Island of the Lost|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/movies/enys-men-review.html|date=30 March 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230330150807/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/movies/enys-men-review.html|archive-date=30 March 2023}} The Los Angeles Times{{'}}s Robert Abele likened the film to The Haunting (1963), noting that " Jenkin achieves the same effect here with his pastoral, oblique Cornish oddity, corralling his sublime, boxy compositions, sensorial editing and carefully hushed sound design into what can only be called a rusted, rustic nightmare."{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-03-30/review-enys-men-mark-jenkin|last=Abele|first=Robert|work=Los Angeles Times|date=30 March 2023|title=Review: An ominous landscape haunts a rocky Cornish outpost in celluloid oddity ‘Enys Men’|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331020032/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-03-30/review-enys-men-mark-jenkin|archive-date=31 March 2023}}

David Fear of Rolling Stone suggested the film could be a "future cult classic" and compared it The Shining (1980),{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/enys-men-review-horror-cult-classic-the-shining-mark-jenkin-1234704730/|work=Rolling Stone|title='Enys Men': Imagine 'The Shining' on a Deserted Island|date=30 March 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250424042748/https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/enys-men-review-horror-cult-classic-the-shining-mark-jenkin-1234704730/|archive-date=24 April 2025}} later ranking it as the fifth best horror film of the year.{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-lists/best-horror-movies-of-2023-1234863159/the-last-voyage-of-the-demeter-1234866080/|work=Rolling Stone|title=10 Best Horror Movies of 2023|last=Fear|first=David|date=11 December 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20231217044852/https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-lists/best-horror-movies-of-2023-1234863159/knock-at-the-cabin-1234866732/|archive-date=17 December 2023}} In an article for Far Out, Calum Russell wrote that Enys Men feels "like the spiritual continuation of Bait", Jenkin's previous film, and "more like an innovative art installation than a piece of narrative fiction".{{cite magazine |last=Russell |first=Calum |title='Enys Men' Review: Mark Jenkin's meditative homegrown experience |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/enys-men-review-meditative-homegrown-experience/ |magazine=Far Out |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250424041451/https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/enys-men-review-meditative-homegrown-experience/|archive-date=24 April 2025|url-status=live |date=11 January 2023}}

The Washington Post{{'}}s Michael O'Sullivan gave the film a middling review, praising it for its mood and atmosphere, but faulting it for its lack of narrative cohesion, summarizing it as "a good-looking, low-budget nightmare, shot on grainy, 16mm color film that makes Woodvine’s brilliant blue eyes contrast starkly with her ubiquitous red rain slicker. It’s a fever dream in which the past and present are confused, along with plant and animal, the living and the dead, and, ultimately, the meaning of this troubled vision."{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/movies/2023/04/04/enys-men-movie-review/|work=The Washington Post|url-access=limited|date=4 April 2023|title=‘Enys Men’: Art house horror film is all mood, no message|last=O'Sullivan|first=Michael|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250424053852/https://www.washingtonpost.com/movies/2023/04/04/enys-men-movie-review/|archive-date=24 April 2025|url-status=live}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Enys Men}}

Category:2022 films

Category:2022 horror films

Category:2020s avant-garde and experimental films

Category:2020s British films

Category:2020s English-language films

Category:British avant-garde and experimental films

Category:British nonlinear narrative films

Category:British independent films

Category:British psychological horror films

Category:Cornish-language films

Category:Film4 Productions films

Category:Films impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic

Category:Films set in 1973

Category:Films set in Cornwall

Category:Films set on fictional islands

Category:Films shot in Cornwall

Category:Films shot in 16 mm film

Category:Folk horror films

Category:Metaphysical fiction films

Category:English-language horror films

Category:Neon (company) films