Hoardis a striking and unconventional British comingofage drama that immerses viewers in the raw inner life of its young protagonist. Directed and written by Luna Carmoon, this debut feature explores childhood trauma, obsessive behavior, and the chaotic aftermath of family dysfunction. Told in two distinct time periods, it follows Maria as she grapples with grief, intimacy, and identity in southeast London. With intense visuals and fearless performances, the film intentionally pushes boundaries to unearth emotional truths few films dare to show.
Introduction to Hoard
Director’s Vision and Debut
Luna Carmoon’s feature debut premiered at the 2023 Venice International Film Festival where it won multiple awards. Produced with backing from BFI, BBC Film, and others, the film represents her deeply personal and uncompromising vision of trauma and survival. Set in workingclass southeast London, Carmoon adapts elements from her own background into a narrative that feels both intimate and surreal.
Story Structure and Plot
Part One: Childhood with Cynthia
The film begins in the early 1980s, introducing sevenyearold Maria (LilyBeau Leach) living with her single mother Cynthia (Hayley Squires). Cynthia is an obsessive hoarder who fills their home with trash gathered from skips. To her, each item is a ‘catalogue of love’ a ritual of bonding with Maria. Their nights are filled with dumpster excursions, rhyming songs, and intimate play amidst the clutter. But an accidental collapse injures Cynthia and leads to Maria entering foster care.
Part Two: Teen Years and Trauma Reawakening
Jumping ahead approximately ten years to 1994, Maria (now Saura LightfootLeon) resides with her foster mother Michelle (Samantha Spiro). She lives a relatively orderly life until Michelle’s former foster child Michael (Joseph Quinn) arrives to stay temporarily. Their connection is intense and unsettling marked by primal play, intrusive physicality, and resurging hoarding impulse in Maria as she unconsciously recreates her childhood rituals.
Major Characters
- Maria: Witnessed as a child and teenager, Maria’s trauma manifests in hoarding, chaotic behavior, and a disturbing quasisexual bond with Michael.
- Cynthia: Maria’s hoarder mother, whose obsessive rituals and love fuel Maria’s emotional entanglement with trash and grief.
- Michelle: A stable foster mother providing structure, she struggles to support Maria as her trauma resurfaces.
- Michael: The older former foster child, whose arrival reawakens Maria’s intense emotional and bodily fixations.
Themes and Emotional Core
Trauma and Attachment
The hoarding in the film symbolizes emotional attachment and grief. Maria’s compulsion to collect and hold onto things reflects her unresolved bond with her mother. The layered objects in her childhood home mirror the psychological clutter she carries as an adult.
Intimacy and Discomfort
The dynamic between Maria and Michael is fragmented, visceral, and often grotesque. Their play and physical closeness express both connection and rebellion against conventional intimacy. Critics describe their encounters as animalistic and boundarypushing, emphasizing discomfort to reveal emotional truth.
Memory and Surreal Atmosphere
Carmoon frames the story through memory and dream logic, using sensory overload like foul smells, food fights, and tight spaces to recreate Maria’s psychological reality. The visuals and sound blur the line between actual trauma and internalized memory.
Style and Cinematic Techniques
Visual and Auditory Design
Cinematographer Nanu Segal crafts a claustrophobic aesthetic through closeups, handheld camerawork, and a color palette leached of vibrancy. The setting itself becomes a character: Maria’s home is drenched in trash, stench, and sensation. Carmoon used fragrance on set to evoke physical memories in actors and crew, deepening emotional realism.
Performance and Emotional Honesty
Both Saura LightfootLeon and Hayley Squires give raw, fearless performances. Leon channels an unhinged intensity as teenage Maria, capturing a fragility and ferocity that anchors the film. Quinn’s Michael shifts from playful menace to emotional vulnerability. Critics praised their synergy as key to the film’s disturbing yet compelling impact.
Reception and Impact
Critical Response
The film received strong reviews for its originality, emotional power, and bold aesthetic. Publications like *The Guardian* called it a haunting study of loneliness and thwarted sexuality with deeply strange and emotionally extravagant storytelling. Others highlighted Carmoon’s fierce social commentary and inventive cinematic style reminiscent of *The Cement Garden* or *Fish Tank*.
Audience Reactions
Viewer responses vary widely. Some praised the film’s emotional honesty and radical vision; others found its rawness overwhelming. Its visceral style and taboo themes provoke strong reactions often admiration or discomfort. Many reviewers describe it as thoughtprovoking, unsettling, and unforgettable.
Why Hoard Matters
A New British Auteur Voice
Luna Carmoon emerges as a bold new voice in British cinema. With *Hoard*, she challenges the sanitized realism of mainstream films, offering instead a rich, sensory, and psychologically driven story rooted in workingclass life and emotional extremity.
Encouraging Dialogue on Trauma and Mental Health
The film raises awareness about the psychological impact of hoarding, grief, and dysfunctional parenting. It invites viewers to empathize rather than judge and to consider the complexities of attachment and suffering tolerated in silence.
Hoardis a daring and immersive debut that confronts trauma with uncompromising intensity. Through its two-part structure, visceral imagery, and unsettled intimacy, it captures the lingering effects of childhood wounds on adult identity. With powerful performances and an unapologetic cinematic voice, Luna Carmoon creates a film that is as disturbing as it is empathetic. *Hoard* is not for every viewer but those who engage with it will find a deeply personal and emotionally charged journey that lingers long after the credits roll.