A Story of Derry Review: Folk Horror Prequel

Set hundreds of years before the events that made Derry infamous, "A Story of Derry" follows three youngsters - Necani (Kiawentiio), Kino (Isabel DeRoy-Olson), and Maneese (Michael Podemski) - as they venture into the Western Wood. What begins as a childhood excursion quickly curdles into something far more sinister when they encounter a terrifying ancient spirit.

The film wisely keeps its creature at the edges. Chavez and her creative team understand that the most frightening things are the ones we sense before we see, and the script leans into that ambiguity. The children's bond grounds the story emotionally, so when the woods begin to work on them - turning curiosity into fear, then fear into something more dangerous - the stakes feel personal rather than merely plot-driven.

There's an obvious temptation with any Derry-adjacent project to lean on the shadow of Stephen King's clown, to wink at the audience with easter eggs and callbacks. "A Story of Derry" resists nearly all of it. This is a story about what the land remembers - ancient, patient, and hungry - and the film's greatest strength is how completely it commits to that older, stranger mythology.

Chavez directs with restraint and confidence. The Western Wood feels alive in ways both beautiful and wrong, and the sound design does heavy lifting: whispers at the edge of hearing, branches that creak like voices, silence that stretches just a beat too long. At 30 minutes, there's no room for fat, and the pacing stays tight, though the film's abrupt conclusion may leave some viewers wishing for a few more minutes to let the finale breathe.

The young cast is the revelation here. Kiawentiio gives Necani a watchful, stubborn courage that feels lived-in rather than performed. DeRoy-Olson brings a restless energy to Kino that makes her the group's heartbeat, and Podemski's Maneese carries a quiet vulnerability that becomes the story's emotional anchor. Among the supporting players, Zahn McClarnon commands every moment he's on screen, while Brandon Oakes, MorningStar Angeline, and the always-welcome Jennifer Podemski and Kimberly Guerrero add texture to a world that feels fully inhabited despite the brief runtime.

If there's a complaint, it's that the film occasionally reaches for atmosphere at the expense of clarity - a few middle passages blur together, and viewers may need a second watch to fully parse the spirit's rules and the community's history. The ambiguity is clearly intentional, but the line between evocative and opaque is a thin one, and the film wobbles on it once or twice.

Even so, this is the kind of ambitious, culturally grounded horror that feels increasingly rare. It's a mood piece with teeth, and its scares linger well after the credits.

Pros:

• Kiawentiio, DeRoy-Olson, and Podemski deliver grounded, naturalistic performances that carry the emotional weight
• Chavez's direction favors atmosphere and dread over cheap scares, creating sustained unease
• The ancient-spirit mythology feels fresh and makes smart use of the Derry name without relying on nostalgia
• Sharp sound design and a lean 30-minute runtime keep the tension ratcheted throughout

Cons:

• The ending arrives abruptly and could have used a few more minutes to land
• Some mid-film passages border on opaque, with the spirit's mythology left hazier than necessary

"A Story of Derry" is a compact, confident piece of folk horror that understands the scariest monsters are the ones older than memory. Chavez and her cast have built something that stands on its own - a 30-minute descent into the Western Wood that earns its chills honestly. With an 8.3/10 audience rating, it's clear viewers are responding to what the film is selling: patience, atmosphere, and an ancient spirit worth fearing. Watch it with the lights low and the sound up - just maybe not alone.