Steel Country

I found A Dark Place while looking to watch a short movie I had never heard of before. Its premise reeled me in; a dead child is found in a small town, and a loner with a hunch investigates. Andrew Scott plays Donny, a sanitation worker who lives with his mother and has a daughter with a woman who does not love him back. The film gives us clues that Donny likely has high functioning autism due to his need to organize things and his compulsory drive to get to the bottom of the child's death. We thus follow his path down avenues no one else would dare travel. I think of it like Taxi Driver set in rural Pennsylvania, but nowhere near as effective, as I felt myself questioning the intent and morality of Donny's actions more than I had liked. But since A Dark Place deals with very complicated topics such as the death of a child, mental health and personal privacy, perhaps that is the point. If you are intrigued by lesser-known films with challenging premises, A Dark Place is certainly an option. Andrew Scott is really good, too. The film is on his shoulders, and he stays the course. Lastly, if you want to see the influence classic films like Taxi Driver have over the film world, check this film out to see what you pick up on.

The acting of the leading actor Andrew Scott in this film is excellent. The pace is a bit slow and the story isn't mind-blowing but Andrew's effortless performance engages the audience and makes you want to root for him and see how things are going to pan out. My only complaint is that the ending is a little weak.

I thought this was going to be a run of the mill thriller but it turned out to be quite engrossing all the way to the end mostly due to the superb acting ability of Andrew Scott who deserves an Oscar for his performance and this elevated the movie beyond your average pot boiler thriller aided and abetted by the performance from Bronagh Waugh.

For such a slow moving small movie it pulls a big punch and keeps the viewer interested and on the edge of the seat right to the rather surprising end and tackles a sadly very common and terrifying thought for any parent which gives the movie even more gravitas. Good camerawork and directing adds to the mix - If you are looking for an interesting mystery thriller that will not disappoint you cannot go far wrong with this one!

The main actor plays the role of an autistic man who is fixated on making sure things are left as they should be, from something as simple as a dustbin lid being left open to a serious crime being left unsolved, that is not how things should be and he will have no peace of mind until things are put right even if putting things right is a matter of life or death. The main actor deserves an Oscar, his performance was amazing, the story is dark and tragic but overall it is a brilliant film, and I'm not easily pleased,

A boy goes missing in a rural town and the case becomes an obsession for a man who believes there is more to the case than what it appears to be.

I'll give a few more details. Our main character comes off as a decent enough guy but he has some sort of mental disability. He lives with his mother but has a daughter that lives with her mother. While visiting his kid, he learns she is on social media and while scrolling through her news feed, he learns that the boy is missing. The man works in sanitation and knows the boy from his garbage pick-up route because the kid made it a point to always wave when he saw him. While it never really gave a good explanation as to why he was so interested in the case, he becomes obsessed and determined to figure out what happened to the kid.

The main character played his part well, easily drawing the viewer into his character's emotions. The majority of the movie is carried by this character so kudos to the actor for his performance. The atmosphere in this is gloomy and the settings felt appropriate.

While I felt it could've used some more detail here and there, I thought it was a "meh" flick. Not amazing and not awful. If you choose to sit down and watch it just be prepared for the slow burn.