In Darkness

Just watched it. It really is a rather good film. Well acted, well written and with a couple of twists that you might not see coming. I'm a huge fan of Natalie Dormer and she's just terrific here. I don't want to say anymore because I don't want to post any spoilers, but if you fancy watching a tight and exciting UK thriller, I doubt you'll be disappointed. Give it a shot, eh?

Ok,my english is not best,i watched this movie on German language,but when they talked Croatian-Serbian language (i'm from Croatia) i was sure they speak russian..then i reapeted that scene like 10 times to understand what they talk on my own language...Germans didnt translate this scene,that was their voices..nobody talks like that 😂 words are ok,but so bad how they say it 😂 i know is a verry dificult language,but if is not correct,better leave it ...

Sofia (Natalie Dormer) is a blind concert pianist in London. She agrees to play for the father of her upstairs neighbor Veronique (Emily Ratajkowski). Veronique falls to her death under suspicious circumstances. It's connected to her war criminal father from Bonsia. There are people after him and Sofia is hiding a secret herself.

It's not the first movie with a blind woman who witnessed a crime. This one takes on some convoluted twists. I question the logic of the big twist. The turns don't really surprise but rather exasperates. Natalie Dormer is a great actress but this doesn't really work. The twists need to be better supported. This movie needs some simplifying.

No British thriller can be done without the most absurd, ham-handed and obvious conspiracy thrown in. I won't spoil the "twist" at the end other than to say it is childish.

Sometimes when actors play a part in writing a movie that they know they will be acting in they spend too much time trying to give their character room to flourish and not enough time on making the rest of the film sustainable. I think that is a little bit of what happened here. Lead actress Natalie Dormer co-wrote the movie with her husband (who also directed the film) and it has to be said she turns in a very impressive performance as a blind woman. The rest of the movie though leaves a lot to be desired.

The biggest problem is has is that it's over-complicated. Many previous films have fallen into the trap of over-complication and it has almost always harmed them. Unless you are Christopher Nolan who seems to be able to simplify even the most complex of storylines, you really shouldn't try too hard in that respect. 'Ocean's Twelve' was a prime example of that. It got so complicated that it was no longer fun. 'In Darkness' is very similar. You're working so hard to keep up with everything that you're never actually able to just sit back and enjoy yourself.

The movie is made with some nice style and I liked the amount of ambition that went into it. It wasn't done on the cheap and nasty, that's for sure. Unfortunately though it just didn't really work for me. It tried to have some "knock your socks off" moments but none of them really landed and the end result was a pretty forgettable film.