Citadel

An agoraphobic man is terrorised by a group of hooded thugs in this strikingly atmospheric modern horror tale.

Even if a screening is sold out, tickets are often available 30 minutes before the start of the film at the box office at each venue.


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  • Director-Screenwriter Ciarán Foy
  • Producer Katie Holly, Brian Coffey
  • With Aneurin Barnard, James Cosmo, Wunmi Mosaku, Jake Wilson, Amy Shiels
  • Ireland-UK 2012
  • 84 mins
  • Sales Films Distribution

After his pregnant wife is viciously attacked and left for dead in the decrepit tower block where they live, Tommy is consigned to care for his newborn baby alone. Crippled by an intense agoraphobia since the fateful incident, he becomes obsessed that the hooded adolescents he believes assaulted his wife are going to return, only to find his worst fears realised when a vigilante priest informs him that these teens might not be entirely human, and are out to get his daughter. First-time filmmaker Ciarán Foy transforms the grey cityscape into a vision of unrelenting dread and claustrophobia, with strikingly atmospheric effect. As with Eden Lake and Them, Citadel continues a recent wave of European horror films that tap into very contemporary fears of urban paranoia and antisocial youth, with a fresh approach to the genre that feels timely but never reactionary.
Michael Blyth

Director statement

I tend to describe Citadel as a half psychological horror, half autobiography. The autobiographical part stems from my own battles with agoraphobia in my late teens and early twenties, which was the result of a violent and unprovoked attack I endured at the hands of a gang of youths. I began to sketch out ideas for Citadel as a way to explore my own paranoia and fears, as well as my ultimate recovery from them. A lifelong genre film fanatic, I thought this would be great material for a psychological horror film. I wanted to create a horror film but I also wanted it to feel ‘real’ and grounded. I envisaged a film that played out like real, believable and gritty drama but contained all the thrills and suspense of a solid work of genre filmmaking. I wanted to capture the terror of the real things I experienced and embellish them with something extraordinary – a combination of my nightmares and paranoid imaginations.
Ciarán Foy

Director biography

Ciarán graduated from the Irish National Film School in Dun Laoghaire with an honours degree in directing. His Irish Film Board-funded short The Faeries of Blackheath Woods (2006) screened at over 40 festivals worldwide and won nine best short awards at such festivals as Melbourne, Cork and Brest. It was also nominated for an IFTA and a Golden Méliès (European Fantasy Award). His debut feature film Citadel won the Midnighters Audience Award when it premiered at SXSW in 2012, plus Best Irish First Feature at Galway Film Fleadh and three further awards already.

Filmography (selected)

2001 1902 [s]; Wired 03:36 [s]
2002 The Puppet [s]
2006 The Faeries of Blackheath Woods [s]
2009 Hotel Darklight [segment]
2012 Citadel