Private Project

Brackenmore

The close-knit community of Brackenmore is harbouring a secret.

After the untimely death of an uncle she never knew she had, Kate (Sophie Hopkins - BBC Dr Who spin-off series CLASS) is forced to return to her ancestral home, a tiny rural village in the South of Ireland. Soon after her arrival she meets Tom (D.J. McGrath - Philomenia), a mysterious young local who helps her to rediscover her long-neglected roots and forget about the anxieties of her life in London.
The longer Kate stays in Brackenmore, the more she begins to realise that the eccentricities of its self-protective residents, suspicious of any newcomers, may be more ominous than she first thought.
A story of festering family history and enigmatic traditions, Brackenmore is a suspenseful thriller that weaves together the exploration of occult ritual with complex human relationships.

  • Catherine Laine
    Producer
    Alice Through The Looking Glass, Avengers, The Foreigner, King Arthur:Knights of the Round Table
  • Fintan Finnan
    Producer
    Black Ice, Banshee, New Religion
  • JP Davidson
    Director
    Gods Acre
  • Chris Kemble
    Director
  • Sophie Hopkins
    Key Cast
    Class
  • DJ McGrath
    Key Cast
    Philomenia, Grassland
  • Kieran Baker
    Key Cast
  • Chris Kemble
    Writer
    Six Seconds to Die
  • Brian Teles
    Writer
  • Leigh Brooks
    Editors
    Race Across America
  • JP Davidson
    Editors
    Gods Acre, Nativity 2
  • Joe Kennard
    Stunt Co-Ordinator/Performer
    Bourne Identity, Assassins Creed
  • Barney Shakespeare
    1st Assistant Director
    Alice Through the Looking Glass, Avengers, Cinderella
  • Michael Lee Taylor
    Sound
    Heart of the Sea, Avengers
  • The Frame
    Sound
    Atlantis, Obsession
  • Fiona Walsh
    Make Up
    The Hobbit, Elysium
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Thriller, Horror
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 12 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    July 1, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    50,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    Ireland
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Portobello Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    September 13, 2016
    Preview
  • Fright Night Theatre
    Ontario
    Canada
    September 30, 2016
    World Premiere
    Best Director, Best Writer, Best Actress
  • Kerry Film Festival
    Kerry
    Ireland
    October 23, 2016
    International Premiere
  • Bramstoker Film Festival
    Yorkshire
    United Kingdom
    October 29, 2016
    UK Premiere
  • Unrestricted View Horror Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    November 5, 2016
    London Premiere
    Best Film
  • Los Angeles Underground Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    December 3, 2016
    US Premiere
    Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress
  • Upstate New York Horror Film Festival
    New York
    United States
    October 15, 2016
    Best Feature Film
  • Toronto International Spring of Horror and Fantasy Film Festival
    Toronto
    Canada
    April 8, 2017
    Best Feature Film
  • Chicago Irish Film Festival
    Chicago
    United States
    March 4, 2017
  • The Monthly Film Festival

    May 6, 2017
    Best Feature Film
Distribution Information
  • Synergetic
    Country: United States
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - JP Davidson, Chris Kemble

Brackenmore - J.P. Davidson Post Production Director

JP has over 20 years experience in UK post production. For the past 10 years he has focused on Independent Features specialising in co-ordinating the Postproduction and as an Editor, VFX artist and colourist. He also takes on the responsibility of any post schedule filming that may be required to complete the narrative and any practical FX or VFX plates. He has recently completed post production on his first feature debut ‘Gods Acre’ as writer, director, editor, colourist and VFX artist.

JP’s role on the Brackenmore production was to take the edit from an assembly to a completed fine cut that depicted the protagonists anxiety about her life in London and her journey to the mysterious village of Brackenmore where she was born and is returning to for the first time since the death of her parents as a child. JP decided not to look at the script but focus on what had been shot.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

There was a wealth of material to choose from so deciding what was going to hit the cutting room floor was the main difficulty. Knowing exactly what genre you are dealing with makes that decision a lot easier and JP could see from day one that Brackenmore was in the sub-genre of Folk Horror. He could see elements of Rosemary’s Baby, The Wicker Man and even Ben Weatleys Kill List in it’s potential so he strived to extract these ideas and aesthetic from the material supplied whilst always focusing on the underlying theme of a strong female protagonist being reborn out of childhood and adult hood trauma. He wanted to raise the stakes for the protagonist, to give her more complications to deal with than was originally intended, her rebirth had to be directly tied to the power of mother nature, the power of birth, that which elevates woman above all else.

Brackenmore could be interpreted as a metaphor for the power of reproduction.