Bit late to the party on this one (I remember it being advertised but can’t believe that was June 2023) but finally got around to watching The Change, starring (and created and written by) Bridget Christie as Linda.
Hitting 50, Linda’s Doctor tells her she’s started the menopause, and having a bit of a “mid-life crisis” she gets on her motorbike, leaves her family and heads into the woods where she played as a child.
The nearby town is populated by a range of unusual characters, some of which wouldn’t be out of place in something like Wrong Turn or Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and others closer to Hot Fuzz or The Wicker Man.
Linda’s journey of discovery in the forest kind of mirrors her journey coming to terms with the menopause, and how even women aren’t really prepared for it (men certainly aren’t and I feel it’s another one of those things boys ,as well as girls, should be taught at school).
Background themes include the environment (old trees being cut down to make way for a road), feminism and men feeling emasculated (the radio presenters), loss and the freedom of finding yourself (Pigman!), all to a folksy soundtrack and odd camera effects to make things feel slightly “off” (a similar trick played by Netflix’s Sabrina series).
While light on actual “folk horror” it certainly plays into a lot of similar themes and imagery and I highly recommend it and can’t wait for the upcoming second series.
The full series can be streamed for free on Channel 4:
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-change