Scopophobia is the fear of being stared at or being watched, a phobia explored in terrifying detail in Aled Owen's Scopophobia during its world premiere at FrightFest 2024 as part of the First Blood strain. The film follows Rhiannon (Catrin Jones) and her friends as they return to their hometown to celebrate their various individual successes. Back home, the mill that used to be the heart of their town shut down years ago, after a worker took her own life after she lost the mill's money. In the shadow of the mill, Rhiannon and her friends have a secret, and she fears everyone in the town knows leading her to feel watched at every turn. The secret that binds the friendship group implicates all of them, forcing their loyalty to one another.
The plot takes some unexpected turns but comes full circle in the end for a satisfying wrap-up. The setting of a small, self-sufficient town works perfectly for this story, making it easy for the characters to feel watched, and to feel known whether they want that or not. In small towns, people politely keep each other's secrets to their faces but gossip quietly behind their backs, and this dynamic is mirrored in Rihannon's friend group. As the story progresses, it's hard to see why they are friends at all, leading audiences to wonder if they even like each other, or if they were just stuck together out of convenience and never changed their ways. Not only do they keep one big secret together, but they all keep secrets from each other. Even as adults, they seem desperate to fit in with one another. Scopophobia is a story about morality and guilt. What makes an act right or wrong at the time, and how can wrongs be righted in the future? What if a wrong cannot be righted?
The settings are perfect for the story. Inside the abandoned mill, you can feel all the town's stories that never got to be finished after the tragedy. A feeling of being watched is imbued throughout the film, often filming characters from far away, or with the shot slightly obscured, to give the sense we are spying on something. All of the sneaking and secrets eventually culminate into the only ending there could possibly be, which genre fans must make sure they see for themselves in this twisty, deceit-filled horror.
Scopophobia had its world premiere as part of the First Blood strain at FrightFest 2024 on Saturday, August 24.