Dead Northern 2024 Festival Review – Strike

The housebound Francine (Gracie LeClere) is gifted a case of matches by her controlling husband, Sebastian (James Viller), who owns various match manufacturer factories. However, she soon discovers that this gift holds a great curse as a dead girl, Vera (Amy Anderson), is resurrected each time a match is lit. 

Britain circa the late 19th century was host to the ‘Matchgirl Strikes’, where the working women from London match factories instigated industrial action against unfair, frankly diabolical working conditions. Mark Patterson’s Strike is set against this monumental moment in history that seems rather fitting for the contemporaneous period. The synthesis of a period piece with a secondary narrative layer of a toxic relationship, combined with a mysterious air of supernatural power, is precisely what makes Strike the dramatic, compelling slice of cinema it is. 

Patterson lays emphasis on Francine’s relationship with the controlling Sebastian, with the patriarchal figure stripping any agency away from his wife, isolating her from not just her abilities but also her potential. In a sense, Francine herself is akin to a ghost, with her true self and ability invisible in the eyes of her husband.

The delicate subject is handled with great respect by the stellar casting of both Viller and LeClere, the latter of which added such autonomy to her evolving character. The caveat of Francine’s story is that she is a wheelchair user, which for the tyrannical Sebastian means that he has further hold over his supposed beloved. LeClere herself is an ambulatory wheelchair user, meaning that she could give credence to the tenderness that her character requires. 

The layered corpus of Strike explores the aspect of hauntology and how the symbolic presence of a ghostly apparition can act as a figurative vessel. The manifestation of Vera is one of great significance, as Patterson dismisses an archetypal ghostly disturbance in favour of the formation of a meaningful bond between Francine and her newfound, unexpected companion. 

Strike distorts what is normally prophecy in terms of supernatural horror, with the film’s surprising story making continuous bold choices – which all collide to benefit and enrich this unmissable, important and stirring horror short feature. 

You can catch the film Sunday 29th September at this years festival, tickets here!