My Thoughts on The Beldham
The Beldham opens with Harper, arriving at her mother’s home with her infant daughter, Christine. Harper’s mother, Sadie, has just retired and bought a farmhouse in the suburbs, and at first glance, it seems like a peaceful escape - a big kitchen, quiet surroundings, and a sense of new beginnings.
Sadie is someone who expresses love through control, and where her criticisms sound like concern, but you can tell that they sting, while Harper is defensive and withdrawn, the kind of person who’s been told too many times she’s doing something wrong.
The film does a great job of capturing that dynamic - the way family love can be mixed with resentment, and how even small gestures can feel like power struggles.
The setting of the farmhouse plays a big role here, too, where it feels bright and open in the daytime, but as night falls, the house changes, where there are strange noises in the walls, and a recurring sound of crows that grows more haunting each time.
Harper starts to sense that something, or someone, is watching her, before discovering a journal left by the previous owner, filled with disturbing notes about a witch known as “The Beldham.”
I will say patience is needed here, as this isn't a movie that rushes to explain whether these things are real or imagined, and director Angela Gulner keeps us in Harper’s perspective, where we see what she sees, feel her confusion, and share in her fear that she might be losing control, which brings some unease to it all.
It is definitely a bit of a slow movie, especially in the middle parts, which might frustrate some, but it isn’t just about being haunted by something supernatural and having lots of supernatural effects thrown in your face - it’s about being haunted by your own mind, by guilt, and by the things you can’t say to the people closest to you.
The supporting characters do well here as well, which isn't always the case in low budget horror movies, and they aren't just used as filler, as they all serve something to deepen Harper’s sense of isolation and doubt in different ways.
When the big reveal finally comes, it completely redefines what came before, and while I won’t spoil it, but it turns the film from a ghost story into something much more emotional and tragic, where everything takes on a new meaning.
I didn’t quite expect to feel moved by the ending, but I was, and I thought the ending was really well done and made the build up all worth it.
What works best about The Beldham is the emotion of it all, and how it treats motherhood as both a source of strength and pain, where Harper’s struggle isn’t just about protecting her daughter; it’s about confronting her own mother and, by extension, her past.
The film suggests that the real horror sometimes comes from the weight of expectations, the fear of not being good enough, of repeating the mistakes of those who raised us, and there’s something quietly devastating about that idea, and it's captured with empathy rather than judgment.
It’s certainly not an easy movie, as it asks for patience, and it can feel a bit confusing at times, but that patience pays off, and what begins as a tale about a witch ends up as something much sadder and more human, with the ache of watching two people who want to love each other but don’t quite know how.
The Beldham won't be for everyone, but I have to say I quite liked it, and in some ways, it delivered a lot more than some much bigger budget horror movies do, and shows a lot of promise from Angela Gulner in her directorial debut.