Fiends in the Furrows 2026: ‘Enys Men’ (Review)

Birdy made it along to the inaugural Fiends in the Furrows festival in Leith, for an outdoor screening of Enys Men at Dock Place (Custom House), Leith.

I was delighted to have been able to attend an outdoor screening of Enys Men at the inaugural Fiends in the Furrows folk horror festival in Leith. The three-day long event has been described as “a mix of pop-up outdoor and indoor screenings & events across Leith, from 23-26 April.“

The festival boasts a few different venues, and this one was shown at Dock Place (Custom House), on a mild and only very slightly chilly evening. I was grateful for the food trucks in place to allow me to grab a bite of Greek street food on the benches beforehand! (There was also pizza from Pizza Geeks)

The outdoor screening experience

It’s such a novelty for me to attend an outdoor screening – although, I’m aware they do happen in the ‘Burgh, albeit usually in the summer months. Food benches were at the back, and metal seats were laid out in rows for watching the film itself – being metal, they were pretty chilly, so I was very glad I’d thought to bring a blanket that I was able to sit on! Pretty soon I ensconced myself in blanket completely, because although I thought I’d be fine in my leather jacket… I was wrong (but still grateful for no rain).

Still, I really enjoyed the experience of the outdoor screening, and the overall relaxed folk horror vibe. It was quite cool watching the gulls on the screen, whilst gulls are playing over our heads, with pigeons walking down the aisle and at one point landing on top of the screen!

I’m less of a folk horror affictionado, but according to folk in the know, it was apparently really cool of Fiends in the Furrows to have a showing of a folk horror film that wasn’t one of the ‘big three or four’. This feels like a significant thing to acknowledge, so well done, that festival.

A brief review of Enys Men

I was entirely new to the film going in (having been invited by a friend), with no prior knowledge of the plot or the background. Set in 1973, the film has an appropriately retro feel (I was shocked to later learn it was actually shot in 2023), and follows a single unnamed woman on an isolated island with only a two-way radio for company… or perhaps not. It’s difficult to tell if the other people are real, from past memories, or are perhaps spirits of the dead taunting her.

It’s a slow burn at first, with an overall uneasy tone, as things start to happen which help us piece together what occurred, and might be going on now. There was a tragedy at sea, and the seeming loss of The Woman’s friend/lover, a serious injury of her younger self, and strange groups of people doing unexplained things.

It’s all a bit vague and unsettling, and as we follow The Woman around specific points of the island, we start to worry if she’s actually losing her mind, haunted by past memories, or seeing things of the supernatural variety. There are many questions, such as ‘why is she throwing a rock down that hole every day?’, ‘what is she checking for?’ and ‘who is she seeing down there?’.

It’s overall an eerie, unsettling, and contemplative film that took me a little bit of time to fully process. Conclusion: The Woman is Not Okay. May end up in the sea, or slicing open her serious old scar to try and remove the imaginary moss growing out of her. Send help.

To sum it up…

I really enjoyed my one outing to Fiends in the Furrows, the outdoor screening was a success – not too cold, not too overwhelming busy, food for all, and a lovely introductory speech to boot. For those in the know, the film was an impressive choice, and I enjoyed it.

Well done to Fiends in the Furrows for a successful (I hope) inaugural festival, and I hope we’ll see you back next year!