Shudder’s ‘Martyrs Lane’ Takes Viewers on a Supernatural Scavenger Hunt

Martyrs Lane premieres on Shudder September 9th 2021. Spoilers Ahead!!!

Streaming this week on Shudder is writer/ director Ruth Platt’s (Black Forest, The Lesson) Martyrs Lane. Which world-premiered at the 2021 Fantasia International Film Festival and is premiering on the horror streamer as part of 61 days of Halloween. The story of a young girl vying for her mother’s attention, all the while trying to make sense of a guardian angel whose nightly visits bring with her a mysterious game that reveals a long-kept secret, maybe best left hidden.

Leah (Kiera Thompson) lives with her Mother Sarah (Denise Gough), Father Thomas (Steven Cree), and older sister Bex (Hannah Rae) in the vicarage house of their small community. Bex likes to torment her younger sister telling morbid stories about the woods surrounding their home, adding to the anxiety of the young girl. 

Her father, the vicar, is busy with church affairs and her mother feels like she’s miles away, lost in thought in a perpetual melancholy, only showing emotion when she handles the locket she wears around her neck. Despite her best efforts, Leah can’t seem to connect with her mother. In an act of defiance, Leah sneaks in and takes the contents of her mother’s locket one night, only to lose it during a panicked act. The loss sends her mother into a spiral of despair, and guilt consumes Leah as well.

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When the family dog runs off, Leah meets a young blonde girl in angel wings (Sienna Sayer) while searching the woods and invites her home. Showing up outside her window night after night, claiming to be her “Guardian Angel”, the two tell one another jokes, and play two truths and one lie, and provide a much-needed friendship for one another. Seemingly sensing Leah’s guilt, the mysterious girl sends her on a series of scavenger hunts to find what is missing. 

With each completed task revealing a series of lettered bracelet blocks and other items thought lost by the people they’re meant for, the challenges become more dangerous as they escalate. I couldn’t help but draw parallels to The Orphanage, as the mystery unfolds. Each piece to the puzzle reveals a darker chapter in a past that was buried for a reason. Perhaps this mysterious guest is no angel after all, and her presence hides a more sinister agenda. 

Platt’s use of religious iconography, and the family being rooted in the church gives a false sense of protection from evil. Faith as a shield is nothing new to the horror genre, but her devotion and belief only makes Leah more vulnerable, and that is a unique take in the genre. 

The subtle effects used in Martyrs Lane are used to perfection, with faint whispers, slow swinging lights, shadowy figures lurking in the darkness. All of the effects heighten the mood and elevate the creepiness to a degree that would have been lost if the director had gone for a cheap scare instead. 

The production and sound design are also top notch; the spaces feel lived in and the overgrowth of the gardens and clutter throughout tell of a history within the walls without feeling over produced. It sets the right tone for the story and transforms the warmth of the home in daylight, to a cold and fearful structure when the sun sets, without stooping to traditional troupes of the genre.

The cast assembled for Martyrs Lane is stellar, Thompson and Sayer are captivating on screen as the two young leads. Their performances are some of the most natural and emotion inducing I’ve seen from child actors in years. Though a ghost story, Sayer appearing outside the window at night gave me the same level of chills I felt when Danny Glick showed up outside Mark’s window asking to be let in during the infamous scene in Salem’s Lot. 

Denise Gough loses herself in the role of Sarah, she manages to be both sympathetic in her grief and cruel in her lack of awareness. There is so much she does internally with the character that you don’t know whether to hug her or hide from her. She elevates what could have been a one note portrayal into a role with many layers, each with their own secrets. 

Martyrs Lane is a slow burn of a ghost story, with a mystery blended into the narrative. Perfectly executed by talents in front of and behind the camera. Clever story telling with a haunting atmosphere that will have you pulling the blanket a little tighter as you watch. As the sign hanging on the wall says: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” Just make sure that stranger who comes knocking in the dead of night is truly what they appear to be. 4/5

★★★★

Martyrs Lane was written and directed by Ruth Platt, and stars Kiera Thompson, Sienna Sayer, Denise Gough, Steven Cree, Hannah Rae, and Anastasia Hille. You can check out the trailer for Martyrs Lane below, and the film will hit Shudder this Thursday, September 9th. As always be sure to follow ScaryNerd for more of all things horror, sci-fi and more.