Now in Theatres
At a cursory glance, one may think Out of Darkness is Andrew Cumming and Ruth Greenberg‘s answer to Prey. This director and writer have a solid vision that kept me guessing, and while the comparison to the Predator film is unintentional, this horror movie kept me looking at what lays out of focus should that hunter be ready to pounce!
That terror is lurking out of the edges of what’s filmed, and if the group of Homo Sapiens landing upon a new shore is to survive, I’d say all of humanity rests upon who lives and dies in this film. I think who they have to face is not just a Wendigo. Just who this beast is, we’ll never know, and I don’t want to search my home library of monster lore just what legend it hails from. There are images of a horned beast to suggest there is more than one force at work here.
But for the protagonists, Adem (Chuku Modu), Heron (Luna Mwezi), and Ave (Iola Evans) who have left paradise, I can’t help but wonder if there’s also the genesis concerning one particular biblical tale most people know from back to front. What’s added to this narrative makes sense, and to be honest, what we’re not dealing with is a take that’s in verbatim. In this work, Geirr (Kit Young) functions as the second-in-command, and Odal (Arno Lüning) is this tribe’s witch-doctor.
Together, the most notable thing about them is that they are multi-ethnic. If this story is about how modern man will soon populate the Earth, then to have representation is important. However, in order for me to enjoy this film, I had to put on that tin foil hat and suspend belief to enjoy this thriller. The fact these people are very well groomed and wear less than prehistoric style clothing threw me off for saying what’s presented is not too authentic.
According to the official press notes, “[This movie] was shot on location in the Scottish Highlands with the use of a bespoke language called Tola, which was developed specifically for the project by a linguist and an archaeologist.” Thankfully, some credibility is added, and it helped put me into the moment. And when the strange creature comes calling, what’s presented is certainly eerie, and as the sound design even got me looking over my shoulder! When considering what sound technician Paul Davies crafted is straight out of urban legend–namely the foghorn-like sounds in Alaska–even I got spooked!
Also, Ben Fordesman’s cinematography is enough to make those dark scenes work feel just as equally chilling. And although much of the film was recorded in the Highlands of Scotland, this world can exist anywhere! In Out of Darkness, I surmise this group of hominids landed somewhere around lower Europe, before the Southern Dispersal. While I’m not up on my anthropology, the fact this story takes careful notes from this fact has my seal of approval!
And when the action gets intense, perhaps the reason for why humanity has developed to such diverse representation is that everyone in this film indeed survived! Although we don’t see how they managed to escape this tundra, at least we know these distant ancestors have earned their cred to be who they are. For half the film, I kept on thinking Ave is the Mitochondrial Eve modern day man will one way discover!
5 Stars out of 5
Out of Darkness Movie Trailer
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