‘Enys Men’, Mark Jenkin’s Follow up to Bafta Winning ‘Bait’ Wows Critics & Audiences Alike

Now on nationwide cinematic release, Mark Jenkin follows his Bafta Winning feature film Bait (2019), With ‘Enys Men’ which, film critic Peter Bradshaw calls an "eerie prose-poem of a film, about an isolated woman lost inside her own mind”. The film played to packed cinemas in Cornwall prior to it’s general release.

The film sees Jenkin return to Cornwall for a film exploring loss, ecological catastrophe, and the supernatural. Set in 1973 on an uninhabited island off the Cornish coast, a wildlife volunteer's daily observations of a rare flower turn into a metaphysical journey that forces her as well as the viewer to question what is real and what is nightmare. 

The film is gathering an incredible critical response with Mark Kermode awarding it 5 stars. In his Guardian he closes his review by saying "For me, it is (like Bait) a richly authentic portrait of Cornwall, far removed from any tourist-friendly vision – a land defined by rugged industry (those miners are still down below), locked in an elemental struggle with the sea (a force that can both give and take life) and driven by a palpable sense of the past underpinning the future. I’ve seen the film three times so far, and I can’t wait to dive into it and be swept away again. Bravo!"

The film is the awaited follow up to ‘Bait’ which was also distributed theatrically by the BFI, for which Mark won the BAFTA Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer in 2020 among many other international accolades. 'Bronco’s House’ was Jenkin's first foray into hand-processed celluloid narrative filmmaking and featured in Anima Mundi’s group exhibition ‘Protected by Alarms’. This followed his solo exhibition at Anima Mundi consisting of still images and his handmade short film work ‘An Air that Kills’. Jenkin was also included in Anima Mundi’s 2021 exhibition ‘Castles of Sand’ with his film ‘Apricots’ with soundtrack by Bicep. 


To view Mark Kemodes 5 star Guardian review click here

To view Peter Bradshaw’s 4 star Guardian review click here

To read The Guardian Feature 'Interest is off the scale’: Cornish cinema fans snub Avatar for local folk horror’ click here