Out of Darkness

I watched Out of Darkness "early" as part of AMC's Screen Unseen. I put early in quotes because apparently this is a 2022 movie that took two years to reach theaters. I can see why. It doesn't belong in theaters. It belongs in the endless abyss of underwhelming and unmemorable streaming movies.

This movie has very little substance. Not much happens. I can summarize the entire thing in a few short sentences. The story is not engaging. You barely learn anything about the characters. So you don't care about them or understand their decisions.

They spend the entire movie teasing you until a fully underwhelming and generic "payoff." It made me roll my eyes. And it has a message we've seen a million times before, but executed in a clunky fashion.

(1 viewing, early screening Screen Unseen 1/29/2024)

45,000 years ago, a group of people desperately try to evade a malevolent force, they must hone their survival skills to stay alive.

I watched this at The Odeon, as part of the Screen Unseen releases, I'd like to rewatch again at home, just to try and understand it a little better.

Billed to me as a horror movie, and whilst I'd say there are horror elements, please don't go expecting a horror movie, if you do, you'll be disappointed.

Whilst I wouldn't say it's my type of film, there are several positives I took away. The cinematography is quite something, it looks amazing, and the actors do a grand job, consider the language they're using, and there is a degree of tension and expectation. The music is good too, very 80's.

Sadly it just go anywhere, and the pacing for me was the major frustration, when I'm in the cinema and fidgeting, I know I'm at the wrong film.

I can't really go much higher than a five, as it committed the biggest film sin of all, it was boring, but it's not without merit.

5/10.

So a group of Stone Age wanderers are searching the bleak wilderness for a new home when they begin to suspect that they are being stalked. Noises in the woods unsettle them, but they see nothing. Suddenly, though, one of their number is taken and the leader "Adem" (Chuku Modu) must make some difficult choices to ensure the survival of both his son and of his pregnant wife. The denseness of the Scottish forestry along with some creative use of light, shadow and audio goes some way to keep the film interesting but the plot itself is really weak and the actors - perfect teeth, skin, leather clothing that wouldn't look out of place at a gay pride gathering - all deprive the thing of any sense of menace or grittiness. It's difficult to watch without thinking the production caravan is just three feet out of shot! The redeeming feature may be an impressibly natural performance from Safia Oakley-Green ("Beyah") but I'm afraid for the most part, I struggled to remain engaged and the ending, well that was just rushed and a little disappointing too. I would still suggest you watch it, if you get the opportunity - but on the television is fine and don't expect to be scared.

My wife and I attended a screening of the UK film 🇬🇧 Out of Darkness (2022) in theaters last night. The storyline follows a group of individuals working together during prehistoric times, seeking a new home and means of survival. Arriving in a new land with limited resources, they hunt for survival only to discover they are not the sole hunters.

Directed by Andrew Cumming in his major motion picture debut, the film stars Chuku Modu (Captain Marvel), Safia Oakley-Green (She Said), Kit Young (Shadow and Bone), Arno Lüning (Bad Girls), and Luna Mwezi (Needle Park Baby).

A well-crafted picture with a premise reminiscent of 13th Warrior, the cinematography, attire, and props authentically transport you to the era, conveying the desperation for survival and lack of hope. The characters' unity in the face of madness is palpable. While the big reveal didn't resonate with me as expected, it's a smart twist depicting evolution. The film captures a time that could well be a forgotten true story. Solid horror elements, noteworthy kills, and impressive gore contribute to the experience.

In conclusion, Out of Darkness possesses worthwhile elements but falls slightly short of its potential. I would give it a 5.5-6/10 and recommend watching it at least once.

They advertised it as a (pre-historic) horror, but I would call it a thriller. It's rather slow-paced and the creepiness is mainly atmospheric: long scenes on barren hills and valleys and in dense woods, often in pitch-black nights. In between there are a few exciting outbursts of frenetic action in confrontations with what seem to be monsters; the relentless violence is impressively realistic. The cinematography is beautiful, but with so many dark scenes and with people who are difficult to tell apart since they're packed in thick layers of fur and have smeared faces, it's at many times hard to follow exactly what is happening.

The actors are made to speak the whole movie through some ancient (made up?) foreign language. I suppose this was meant to enhance the feeling of authenticity, but it's a bit tiresome to have to read subtitles for 85 minutes, distracting me from following the images. I also kept imagining what a strain it must have been to learn all these incomprehensible words and sentences. Personally, I wouldn't have minded it when they had chosen for English dialogues. And by the way, how did leader Adem get such a perfectly shaven head, did they have back then some kind of trimmers?

There's a nice twist in the end, with even an existential message: however different people may outwardly look and act, inside they are basically the same human beings. So in spite of the rather cynical and violent conclusion, the movie ended with at least a hopeful touch.