2 out of 5

Director: Ciaran Foy

Plenty of horror or suspense films get by on only a scrap of plot and tons of atmosphere, so no judgments on ‘Citadel’ for doing the same: Tommy witnesses an attack on his pregnant wife which has two consequences: she becomes comatose, he becomes agoraphobic.  We are shown both of these things post-attack, flash-forward, as he raises his daughter, struggling to get out of the house, seeing, it seems his wife’s attackers – grubby teens in hooded jackets – everywhere, threatening him even in the safety of his home.  There’s something off about these kids – we get glimpses of their faces and they seem twisted; they don’t speak but rather growl and shriek; they seem to have a singular focus on Tommy – lurking creepily outside his windows, in alleys on his trembling way home from visiting his wife in the hospital.  And also… are they real?  Aneurin Barnard’s representation of the totally shattered Tommy is truly effective – we feel how wrecked he is – and Ciaran Foy does an excellent job of stacking the visuals with oppressive colors and constricting terror.  Had we stuck to the realm of the psychological, this could’ve been a more affecting tale of overcoming internal struggles.  But instead, yeah, those are totally feral kids and they’re infesting ‘the citadel’ and Tommy needs a priest and blind kid to fight them… and it’s all a little simple and wedged into the horror category for no real point.  Interesting starting point, but there end up being no surprises, resulting in a rather plodding and predictable snooze.