The Feast | SXSW 2021 Film Review

Unfolding over the duration of one night, The Feast follows a wife and her Parliament husband, Glenda (Nia Roberts) and Gwyn (Julian Lewis Jones), along with their two sons – the decidedly vacuous Gweirdd (Sion Alun Davies) and his addiction-riddled brother Guto (Steffan Cennydd) – as they prepare an elegant meal at Glenda’s family farm. Atop the sprawling acreage is this newly built home, where they vacation and now choose to serve their dinner, along with a few business aspirations in tow.

Those dealings arrive in the form of Euros (Rhodri Meiler), a slick-haired snake charmer of a salesman who helped amass Glenda and Gwyn’s fortune by selling off mining rights to their properties, Euros now wants to convince our final guest, Mair (Lisa Palfrey) and her husband to do the same. The mining companies are stripping the minerals of the area, eroding the picturesque landscapes and diluting its significance…while also awaking something disturbing.

Help arrives for Glenda in the form of the quiet and reserved Cadi (Annes Elwy), a young woman from a local tavern who functions as an assistant for the meal prep. Cadi’s demeanor is an immediate red flag to impending trouble, but the mystery of this Welsh tale remains as to which end will the tribulation occur: is Cadi the antagonist or protagonist of our story?

Renowned British television director Lee Haven Jones makes an assured transition to features with this film. An ominous mood piece rife with atmosphere and storytelling conjecture (much of the WHY in the film is assumed rather than bluntly explained), The Feast is an auspicious debut for Jones.

The first two acts unravel at an almost lethargic pace with only pieces of Roger Williams’ story being dropped as it plays out, slow-burn is an apropos description. It is Jones’ confidence in Williams’ script – especially as we careen towards the operatically bloody conclusion – and in his own visual melancholy that appeases our senses rather than causes us to shift in our seats. It is a buildup to needing to know exactly what is going on, and especially, the WHY it is all happening.

It is no surprise that the two standouts in the cast are Roberts’ Glenda and Elwy’s Cadi, as both actors are at the forefront of the inherent mystery at play. Nia Roberts exudes the personality of a blistering aristocrat, with a subtle undercurrent of a woman who formally did time as a pauper and refuses to lose her station in life. Glenda is so self-involved that she completely misses how oblivious to this meal prep Cadi is in every sense of the word. Glenda is a confident yet desperate woman, and Roberts perfectly captures the dual nature of her character.

Annes Elwy, on the other hand, plays her role explicitly under-the-radar. Cadi is unassuming, casually incompetent, and intermittently precarious. Yet Elwy plays her so slyly and with such faint innocence that this entire family as well as us watching are completely unsure of her true motives until the final act.

Though the pacing might be off-putting to some, The Feast pays off its slow-burn approach with an excitedly bonkers conclusion sure to keep audiences talking long after they’ve parted ways with Glenda and friends. Lee Haven Jones has found a voice in horror, and hopefully it is one we will continue to hear for years to come.

Follow our further discussion on over 30 film and episodic premieres screened at SXSW 2021 via this episode of The Hollywood Outsider podcast: