Foretoken: A Tale of Oppression and Fury

Tamas Levardi’s Foretoken – Omen of the Outsiders, a 22-minute Roman-era costume drama, is the origin story of its protagonist, the warrior Enna. Introduced at her most desperate, the film follows the character through a matter of hours as she repeatedly loses kin at the behest of the Roman empire. 

Narrated in voiceover by the older Enna (Clare Nunn), the plot is a broad account of her triumphant last stand against the Romans as a young woman (Maya Katherine) who, in her own words, is not a warrior. Roman invaders—referred to as outsiders—have reduced her tribe to destitution with nothing more left to give up to demanding hands. As she makes her way towards a vaguely defined (but thoroughly argued) goal with her father (James Wingate) and brother (Nikolas Balfe), more losses befall the already broken party. Enna is left with no choice but to pick up the sword and shield. 

While she has some characterisation—determined, grieving, angry, noble—meant to be understood through prior exposure to such characters, the antagonists have nearly none. Evil is their only descriptor, a face attached to that word only in the film’s second half as Enna battles an officer (Rob Horrocks). The problem, then, is the foregoing of detail and texture. 

A focus on cinematography and music, however, pays off: the image is reasonably pleasing and the soundtrack rich. They bring in the visual and aural grandeur that the writing had hoped to achieve. Nunn lends the story its folkloric quality, made more interesting by the fact that it is Enna herself who recounts her story. 

Throughout, and particularly after it’s over, the lasting impression is that a few hasts and dosts cannot stop Foretoken. It could belong to any era, including the present (especially with its hilariously jarring inclusion of the f-word): the tale of the underdog is universally known, and here it marches on, unhindered by specificities. 

Watch Foretoken – Omen Of The Outsiders Short Film