O Lado Sombrio

Dark Touch takes the audience into an uncomfortable place, one with psychologically disturbing ground. It dabbles in the matter of child abuse with stylish yet subtle approach, but the slow pacing and lack of resolve might deter some viewers. The film isn't a harrowing encounter, at least not in usual adrenaline rush inducing way of horror or mystery genre, it's more of a thoughtful process to instill doubt and sympathy. However, this endeavor is probably not one audience would like to take part of.

Neve (Missy Keating) is a little girl who may or may not be abused. There's a stifling air about her, but her fragile self also instinctively draws sympathy. After a while there's a series of incident around her, which may harm her parents and anyone who tries to help her. What great about this premise is the acting of the lead child actor, Missy Keating. Not many young actors could perform as well as she does.

She embodies an interestingly frail persona, but it's still unclear whether she's the origin of misfortune or the victim, or even disturbed in an entirely supernatural way. Keating looks like a genuine troubled child, yet occasionally possessing daunting confidence. With her convincing performance, the movie at least accomplishes half of its goal.

The child abuse aspect needs to be addressed delicately, and the movie has done so with a good restraint. Unfortunately, the pacing is troublesome. There's really little suspense at the buildup, furthermore it only gets momentum after about halfway. At this point there are some random events that haven't been cleared, and ironically despite its more engaging approach the film sometimes resorts into cliché tactics.

Dark Touch is a display to bring emotions, parts of it are open to interpretation, although this might not deliver as strong message as it would like. It still has an unsettling aura with a good lead performance and relatable theme, even though the foray there is exhausting.

**Spoilers ahead**

It's clear from many of the other reviews, as well as the film's unfairly low rating, that a good percentage of today's audiences remain uncomfortable with ambiguity and lack of closure. I for one think these qualities are sorely lacking in modern film, and desperately needed in greater abundance in the horror genre in particular. Yes, it might have been nice to get some "origin event" or background on/explanation of her powers (and what's the deal with that whistling trick?), but this is not a film concerned with plot. Instead it is much more focused on capturing the horror inherent in its primary POV--the paranoid, emotionally detached, and deeply disturbed perspective of an abused girl. Leaving the audience in the dark, so to speak, with regards to exactly what is going on and why is in perfect keeping with that aim. With that said, I did think it went overboard in the final scenes, and that the addition of her two sidekicks was unnecessary. Nevertheless, I still rate it a worthy addition to the sub-genre of horror ("Carrie", "May", "Alice, Sweet Alice", etc.) that successfully evokes extreme unease from the fragile and volatile psyche of a damaged little girl.

Dark Touch looks like a rework of Stephen King's Carrie, except it's more keen at the themes of suffering with abusive parents. Even though that this is a horror movie, it is at its most interesting when it deeply focuses on the main character dealing with her trauma. The supernatural elements only becomes the allegory of her feelings against the violence she faces at home. The narrative can get a little clunky and once it gets hateful at the third act, things felt sort of incoherent. Still, Dark Touch offers a compelling core that keeps it from being like any generic horror film we usually get these days.

The movie is pretty slow, while it satisfyingly shows enough disturbing violence, the movie is more concerned at the traumatized young girl who is unable to overcome on what she was treated by her family. We often just see the motions of her new life trying to fit in to a normal new family and visiting some therapy. The final note of the movie seems to indicate that this is a personal message against child abuse from one of the filmmakers. It's quite compelling when it keeps things grounded, the girl's supernatural abilities is only a symbolism of her anxiety and a growing tension of harming the people who cares for her. Apart from that realism and analogy, the movie becomes sort of clunky at its horror movie elements. This as well sets up to an ending that has an obvious meaning, but felt a little unfitting to what has accomplished. As a result, it looks glorious to those who agree with its sentiment, but also disappointing for how much better it could have been.

The movie still deserves a lot of credit. As much as there are characters dying violently, the movie doesn't try to make that the whole point of it all. It doesn't even bother explaining the origins of Niamh's curse. What's important here is to portray the terrible effects of abuse to a child. The movie brings a stunning cinematography that reflects their world's melancholic atmosphere. Young Missy Keating does fine as Niamh. Her limited expressions do work for hiding the pain of her character. Better are the supporting who decently back her up.

Dark Touch is alright, there is a potential of a better movie that may become an excellent allegory, but it's still difficult to explain what to exactly feel about the third act. It's probably to add more camp since it doesn't offer much horror within its storyline, or the filmmakers just hate child abuse too much that it has to take it that far. Wasn't her telekinetic powers already enough for their consequence? And it's also a pretty compelling one if you think about it. The point is, the conclusion just doesn't quite fit in the process, as it largely shifts the tone. But the movie has a clear statement, and I think that's enough for it. Horror fans may appreciate its bloody death scenes, though that's not exactly what this movie is about, the movie just could have been tighter in its messaging. There is an absolute reason why we must hate child abuse, but out of caricatures, too much hate really affects the experience.

Yet another supernatural kid horror that has an eye for atmosphere but the script is just nothing special.

Our main girl Niamh is a very sympathetic and adorable protagonist but we have just been here before and you need some kind of twist to make it interesting especially since this movie kind of blows its load very quickly, revealing the things we really should have just been guessing.

It's a vivid portrayal of the domination of adults in a child's life, even the well intentioned ones.

But I can barely even remember how this ended which is a pity from an Irish set movie with French people behind it.

I am going to begin by stating that, while I am not an expert on film making, I think this is a very well directed and edited movie. The pacing was spot on. I was entertained from start to finish. Morally righteous audiences should be pleased by the lack of naked female breasts and naughty language. The story does deal with a very serious and disturbing subject however, so this movie may not be appropriate for everyone.

The main problem that I think some people will find with this movie is that the thing, or device, that drives almost all of the action sequences has already been dealt with in what is considered by many to be a classic horror film.