After the Dark

A bunch of kids who all seem to have arrived from the same toothpaste or shampoo commercial turn up for their last day at school ever. The teacher decides to run a philosophy role-play as a kind of review session. What follows are momentous life-and-death decisions with huge consequences for the fate of the human race.

Or not, as it turns out - because it is a classroom exercise. All the exotic settings, CGI explosions, and crisp cinematography cannot distract us from the fact that all that is at stake here is an A, B or C grade. There isn't even a mention that someone might FAIL the class - the stakes are that low! The teacher threatens the lead girl with losing her A+ in a manner that, if taken seriously, would see him fired for power harassment and incompetence. Are we meant to fear for her in this ludicrous moment? Unfortunately, that is as dramatic as this film gets.

The so-called philosophy is preachy and immature. The pupils all kind of blend into each other as characterisation is one-note. And absolutely nothing of value is tested or put at risk here. It's like The Breakfast Club was never made.

How this screenplay made it to the top of anyone's pile is a crime that should be investigated. Two stars - one for the cinematography, the other for the huge drinking game potential.

It is a shame when such a great idea with so much potential is executed improperly and inevitably fails. That is the case here with 'After the Dark.' The film begins immersing you into the world of Philosophy. The teacher asks his class questions revolving around situations of morality or rationality and how they would go about it. You find yourself answering these hypothetical questions for yourself and then realizing that this is a movie that you can become indulged in without any proper knowledge of philosophy. The one thing that the film did do well was taking an experiment that realistically only took place in one location, and made it interesting by adding other dimensions to it. This was repeated three times with different outcomes and I would find myself correcting their mistakes, thinking that I could figure this puzzle out. What I didn't know was that the movie in itself was a puzzle I would never figure out.

'After the Dark' felt like a 1,000 piece puzzle that you were just about to finish perfectly until you realize that the last piece just doesn't fit right. The movie up until the final 20 minutes or so is really intriguing. It asks all the right questions to get your brain working, however, your brain is working towards an answer that is never given to you. The ending doesn't make sense by any means and it certainly doesn't tie everything up in a nice bow like you so desperately hoped for. Instead, it leaves you questioning the fate of some of the characters and why the last hour of the movie was even relevant.

Aside from some beautiful cinematography, satisfying performances from a young cast and an original take on a film, 'After the Dark' doesn't deliver. It tries to answer questions that no one was searching for a resolution to and denies to answer the questions they were so evidently setting up throughout the entire film.

I admit this wasn't exactly as exciting and fast paced as the trailer suggested but I still really enjoyed it. While everyone seems to be slating the film for its explanation of philosophy I think they are missing the point. Personally I believe the film is more about human nature and how in essence we are emotional creatures. Here is a tutor arguing about logical choices and not allowing emotion to guide you when in the end it is revealed the whole exercise was created as his emotional reaction to something. I cant say much more without spoiling it for those who haven't seen it. I would definitely recommend this to others. I would call this a Sunday afternoon film, it does all the thinking for you but you can still enjoy the ride.

The beginning is interesting, I would say until the second half. Nothing wildly exciting, has some nice little twist in there but very minimal. It is shot in a dreamy kind of atmosphere. For some completely non-constructive and no where plot related reason the class is in Jakarta (pronounced Yanky style Djakardda) and you can tell this by the teak hardwood furniture and the crickets in the back (duh). The second half is hopeless. All the close ups of clearasil clean pouts, island shots and fuzzy broken sunlight (a lot if it) can't disguise the mouth-breathy throaty delivered "philosophy" to be no more than pretentious romanticism. The ending is a joke. Or maybe it is 'so deep' we all didn't get it. I give it a 5 for the first half.

As other people have detailed more completely than I care to, this movie is mediocre at best if you're looking for a movie about philosophy. If you try to watch the movie from this point of view it's downright infuriating and deserves the single star that so many reviewers gave.

Watching the movie as a drama, it's passable. The teacher claims that they're doing a thought experiment but in actuality I would say they were playing a bad role playing game (think Dungeons and Dragons). Imagine a really nasty DM (the teacher) empowered to force others to play his game by use of his position of authority. He does most of the things that a bad DM does and for reasons consistent with most common role playing game drama. This doesn't really pull together to make a fantastic movie but it's decent.