Dark

This film rather took me by surprise. I went into this with no preconceived notions other than it was about the North American blackout of 2003 and had Alexandra Breckenridge (The Walking Dead) in it. This film hit me on a deeper level than expected and stayed with me for quite a few days after seeing it. It's portrayal of a young woman with mental issues, suffering from a very deep depression played to perfection by Whitney Able (Monsters) related to me. Knowing someone personally who dealt with depression, I thought the movie captured that state of mind completely. The subtle depiction of the lead, Kate's, slowly devolving emotional state through to it's brutal ending was uneasy to watch. I can see why some people may find the movie slow but I was gripped throughout because of the lead character. The acting is superb as well as the "jump cut" editing style and the cinematography, naturalistic and beautiful. The sound design, particularly in the second half, was really well done, especially considering most indie films usually fail on sound. It makes NY seem like a very intimidating place, at least in the main character's mind. Even though the film is set in NYC, it feels very much like a European film. Having grown up in the UK and loving a lot of art house films, most European cinema has never been plot-focused. European directors usually focus on the accurate representation of internal states, rather than external drives. This film's goal can be described in the same way and pulls it off quite successfully. It's definitely a movie that will not please everyone. It's not "entertaining" in the traditional movie sense but rather a cathartic, intimate experience for 93 minutes. If you like arty cinema with dark subject matter, you'll absolutely appreciate this indie gem.

WARNING: This is a thinking person's movie. After watching it the other night I was on the fence. I didn't know if I loved or hated this movie. Looking at reviews on here, it seems like other people have the same split reaction. On one hand it was NOT the movie I was expecting. From the description I thought it would be a thriller about home invaders during a blackout, instead of the slow psychological drama about a very depressed and paranoid woman who is coming apart from the inside. The blackout only works as a catalyst for her mental disintegration. After it was over I wasn't sure what the filmmaker was trying to say. Then as the next couple of days passed I realized the movie stuck with me. Whitney Able's performance was emotionally heartrending and the film has a way of getting under your skin. Certain aspects of the film started to impress me more 24 hours after I had watched it. So much of going to the movies today is about being mildly entertained for two hours and then walking out and forgetting about the experience. This film is the opposite. I can see why now some people hate it and others seem to love it. The film grew on me and I am really impressed with what the filmmakers did, especially on a low budget. It's not a perfect film but it is an emotional one which feels very personal. And that is refreshing in this day of mostly forgettable entertainment.

A young bisexual former-model-turned-yoga-instructor (Whitney Able) is in a deteriorating relationship with her girlfriend (Alexandra Breckenridge). When her girlfriend leaves town in the midst of an unresolved argument, she is left alone in their run-down NYC loft just as the famous blackout of 2003 occurs. She has encounters with a couple of potentially sinister men--a weird, overly friendly neighbor (Brendan Sexton III) and a guy she unsuccessfully tries to pick up at the bar. She may be being stalked and externally threatened in real-life, but judging from some quick-cut flashbacks and scars on her wrists, the worst danger may really be in her own mind. . .

I suspect when this movie is more widely released, it may have some trouble finding an audience because it looks enough like a horror movie to chase away a lot of the art crowd, but a lot of horror fans may not appreciate its artier trappings and its slow, subtle and largely psychological approach to horror. This movie falls in the school of horror typified by films like "Repulsion", "The Tenant", "Let's Scare Jessica to Death", and "Session 9". These kind of films are rarely made, especially these days. The last two I remember both came from south of the US border--"Magic, Magic", which I thought was unfairly panned, and "La Casa Muda", which was successful enough to inspire an American remake, but was then overshadowed by the failure of said remake. Personally though, I LOVE this brand of arty, slow-simmering horror. I wish they made more of them, but they are both hard to pull off and a hard-sell once produced.

The two actresses here are real revelations, especially Whitney Able. They are both known as typical "hot" actresses who take their clothes off a lot (actually they do that here too in an opening sex scene), but they have both gone through some physical changes for this movie and look quite convincing as a NY lesbian couple. Breckenridge's acting is spot-on in her few early scenes, and after she goes, Able has to really carry this movie herself, perhaps even more than Catherine Deneuve does in "Repulsion", where SHE could fall back on the talents of great director Roman Polanski. I don't mean to oversell either the movie or the performance, but it really works, and it really works because of her. It's also good to see the once-busy East Coast indie actor Brendan Sexton III, who was in "Welcome to the Dollhouse", "Boys Don't Cry", and "Session 9", but largely disappeared after that. This movie was also actually filmed in New York City, and like a lot of genuine NYC-filmed movies, the city itself is an important character.

This movie is not an easy sell to anybody, but people that really like "Repulsion"-type movies will definitely appreciate this.

Twenty-somethings Kate and Leah are in a rocky relationship when Leah plans on heading out of town. Kate lives in the heart of NYC, pretending to like it just to make her relationship survive. Once a blackout occurs, Kate starts to have an internal struggle on what to do without Leah and coping on her own. I would have rather had Leah stay during the blackout and Kate go out of town, but the actress that played Kate (Whitney Able) did a superb job at bringing out all of Kate's character flaws. Leah didn't show any character flaws while she was onscreen. There are some editing flaws - as in the sound doesn't match up correctly with the characters' lips on screen. This happens about five times in the movie. Check out this movie if you like psycho-dramas. I watched this on Netflix.

I gave 3 stars because I spent so much time rolling my eyes watching this that I may have missed something worth seeing. There are few if any redeeming qualities associated with this film. I'm curious if it provided any inspiration for the 2019 film "The Wolf Hour" with Naomi Watts which is a far better film but still middle of the road for the genre. Skip this snooze fest.