Out Of Darkness is the feature directorial debut of Andrew Cumming, working off a script by Ruth Greenberg. It’s a survival horror story set in the paleolithic era, a moment in human history that has very rarely been explored in film. It follows a small group of settlers, who have left their homeland, making their way across treacherous waters to a new land that they can hopefully start anew. Unfortunately, the land is cold and barren, nothing that can help them make a new life for themselves. Not the paradise that the group leader, Adem (Chuku Modu), had led them to believe.
Now, Adem must protect his pregnant partner, Ave (Iola Evans), their son Heron (Luna Mwezi), as well as his brother Geirr (Kit Young), an elder, Odal (Arno Lüning), and a stray that they brought along, Beyah (Safia Oakley-Green) from the elements and starvation. However, their journey ends up becoming much more tumultuous as Adem begins to show greater signs of selfishness and ego, which adds to the stress to the clan when they comes to realize that they are being watched, and potentially hunted by someone or something that is hiding out in the vast and dark wilderness.
Obviously, I won’t give away what this thing is because that is very much a part of the fun. You don’t quite know if the film is going to play close to reality or if it will shift into something much more fantastical because it has the kind of mood and atmosphere that work either way. Cumming proves to be a strong visual stylist who knows how to create a sense of dread and foreboding, the percussion heavy score from Adam Janota Bzowski really adds to the feeling as well. Ben Fordesman also shoots the hell out of the Scottish landscapes they used as the locations.
The film is a very straightforward genre exercise, a mystery-driven horror film where a force attacks our core group of characters, and they must find out what it is and survive. Given the setting, the film does a wonderful job at capturing the sense of the unknown. It isn’t just that we have no idea what could be out there, it’s the way these characters also cannot fathom what could be awaiting in the darkness for them. They rely largely on superstition, Odal at one point believes Beyah being on her period triggered the onslaught of death upon the clan.
My only qualm of the film is that it doesn’t do much to really transcend the conceit itself. It doesn’t go full Apocalypto, and deliver an unhinged adrenaline ride that looks like it was as dangerous to make as it is for the characters. And while creating an entirely new language for the characters is a great achievement, this is one of those movies that could easily be improved if half the dialogue was cut out. Much of what was said could have easily been expressed visually and just through the actor’s looks and movement, only speaking what is absolutely necessary. And though the film does have a desire to explore feminine survival in the face of the patriarchy – or at least, an early version of it – the themes don’t really get much room to explore beyond a superficial level.
Overall, I was really engaged by Out Of Darkness. It’s ambitious with its conceit, while keeping things simple on a narrative level, which only serves to highlight all the striking filmmaking elements that much more. I’m curious to see where Ruth Greenberg and Andrew Cumming go from here because it’s an impressive film on several fronts, particularly on the craft side of things. The payoff to the mystery is a satisfying one, even if isn’t necessarily the most surprising. I think it ultimately feels right for what this story is trying to convey about the nature of man and the inherent desire we have to live and survive. It’s a grim, gnarly, and intense film from beginning to end, and with a runtime just under 90 minutes, it doesn’t overstay its welcome at all. It keeps a sense of momentum, while knowing when to be patient and methodical with its pacing. I’d love to see more movies like this, more that explore this time when the very survival of our species was not a guarantee. I think it’s worth taking time to think about that kind of stuff. It’s quite a humbling thing.
Out Of Darkness is now out in theaters.