The Banished – Movie Review (2/5)

THE BANISHED is a new Folk Horror movie from Australia. I adored parts of it while also thinking it was too slow and long. It’s one of those strange rollercoaster experiences where it ultimately falls short, but I am so glad I watched it. Read our full The Banished movie review here!

THE BANISHED is a m Aussie Folk Horror movie with a story that offers quite a mindf**k. It has gorgeous shots and utilizes two forward-moving stories that connect before the final act. From the beginning, we know they’re connected as the same person is the protagonist in both.

While I expected it to reach a wild climactic ending, it did fall short for me. The ending is wild, in a sense, but the overall experience of that final third act was just too slow. And I can’t claim it hit home with me.

Continue reading our The Banished movie review below. Find it In Theaters & On Demand from July 18, 2025.

A family torn apart

In The Banished, we follow Grace (portrayed perfectly by Meg Clarke) as she goes searching for her brother. Their family has quite a tragic past, where the patriarch was clearly awful (to put it mildly). You’ll hear more in the movie, so I’ll let you “experience” this for yourself.

When the story begins – one of them, anyway – their dad has passed away, which is why Grace is back home.

Her brother, on the other hand, hasn’t been seen for quite some time. She hasn’t spoken to him either after having had regular contact with him; it seems he disappeared a few months ago. Obviously, she wants to find him now that the man who made their life hell is gone.

It seems their childhood was one long struggle to stay alive, and now a new survival story is about to begin for Grace.

The greatness and horror of the wild

Grace is a strong young woman who got away from her hometown, and now she wants to help her brother get his life back on track. She finds out that he has left city life for the wilderness. Apparently, there’s some sort of commune where several people have “escaped” to.

This leads Grace to venture deep into the wilderness. A magnificent and glorious nature that will soon also reveal the horrors it contains.

Will she find her brother? Does he wish to be found? Also, what is going on in the wilderness that has led to a whole slew of missing people cases in their hometown?!

You’ll have to watch The Banished to find out. And I have to admit that several moments (mostly before the final 20 minutes or so) offered some intense and terrifying scares. If you’re going camping over the summer, maybe watch this once you’ve returned safe and sound.

Watch The Banished on VOD or in Theaters

The Banished was written & directed by Joseph Sims-Dennett. For the longest time, I was completely captivated and enthralled by the worldbuilding and the two stories that you feel getting closer to one another in time.

And then that last act just lost me… well, to a point.

I would give it a 2½ if we have half ratings, so it’s a recommendation… for some. The runtime of 96 minutes isn’t too long on paper, but it gets way too slow at certain points. I’m okay with slow-burn (I often love it), but there’s something about this ending that just didn’t work for me.

If you’re ready to just lean into this horror movie, which does offer some very real scares, then check it out. I don’t think fans of folk horror will be disappointed, but I feel it is a hit-or-miss experience. For me, it was ultimately a miss, but moments during it made me expect a hit.

The Banished releases in U.S. Theaters and digitally on July 18, 2025, and on digital platforms in the UK on July 28, 2025.

Details

Director: Joseph Sims-Dennett
Writer: Joseph Sims-Dennett
Cast: Meg Clarke, Leighton Cardno, Gautier Pavlovic-Hobba, Tony Hughes, Diane Smith