As part of a psychological shocker, “Mandrake – Root of Evil” also deals with the question of what long prison sentences do to people, and whether they are even capable of a “normal” life afterwards. Here is the trailer:
In “Mandrake – Root of Evil” we see Cathy Madden (Deirdre Mullins), who works as a probation officer in Northern Ireland. Despite plenty of private problems, such as her sick son (Jude Hill) and tight finances, she is fully committed to the job.
Today she meets her latest client, notorious murderer Mary Laidlaw (Derbhle Crotty). After 20 years in state prison, Cathy is tasked with rehabilitating her back into society. The woman known as “Bloody Mary” doesn’t exactly make Cathy’s job easy from the start. But she has to get through it, she thinks. After all, she took on the case voluntarily after all her colleagues refused to work on the file.
Cathy believes that everyone deserves a second, sometimes even third or fourth chance at redemption – including Mary Laidlaw. However, her belief in this ideal is to be severely shaken. For suddenly two children disappear in the immediate vicinity of the farm where the more than suspiciously behaving Mary now roams freely …
In North America, the British production “Mandrake – Root of Evil” debuted in November 2022 exclusively on the horror streaming service Shudder. In this country, the title will now be released on Blu-ray and DVD on 27 January 2023. Both formats with FSK-16 clearance can already be pre-ordered from online providers such as Amazon. Those who don’t want to wait that long can already purchase the film digitally from 5 January 2023 and then stream it immediately:
THIS IS THE CAST AND CREW OF “MANDRAKE “
“Mandrake – Root of Evil” is the feature-length debut of Northern Irish director Lynne Davison, who has previously worked exclusively as a short film director. The thriller was conceived and scripted by “An Act Of Defiance” and “Hard Target 2” screenwriter Matt Harvey.
The main roles are played by Deirdre Mullins and Derbhle Crotty. We know Mullins mainly thanks to guest appearances in TV and streaming series like “Vikings”, “The Frankenstein Chronicles” or “The Drowning – A Mother Investigates”. Crotty, on the other hand, has had her most important parts so far in feature films like “Diary of a Scandal” or “Christina Noble”.
The most familiar faces in the rest of the cast might be those of Paul Kennedy (“House Of The Dragon”), Seamus O’Hara (“The Northman”), Ian Beattie (“Game Of Thrones”) and Nigel O’Neill from the scary fun “Boys From County Hell”. If you don’t want to miss “Mandrake – Root of Evil” and other important new releases – whether on the big screen, in streaming or for home cinema – then simply subscribe to our free newsletter, which is published every Thursday
