Directed by Andrew Cumming and written by Ruth Greenberg, in the Old Stone Age, a disparate gang of early humans band together in search of a new land. But when they suspect a malevolent, mystical being is hunting them down, the clan are forced to confront a danger they never envisaged. Starring: Chuku Modu, Kit Young, Safia Oakley-Green, Iola Evans, Luna Mwezi and Arno Lüning.
The first thing you have to talk about with Out of Darkness is arguably its biggest and most immediate strength, the stunning aesthetic. They couldn’t have chosen a better backdrop than the Scottish Highlands for this prehistoric-set horror-thriller. It’s a beautifully unfolding landscape, giving the film that expansive, isolated and atmospheric tone the story calls out for. Qualities that are even more enhanced through the film’s use of light and darkness, adding a great level of detail.
Those aspects then serve to level up the tension at play within Out of Darkness but it misses out on suspense and unpredictability. Sadly, it has a certain predestined quality that instils an inevitable doom and gloom, leaving no room for hope. In turn that gives the film a coldness which makes it difficult to invest in, its emotional side doesn’t really get involved until late in the game. Part of that connection problem feels like the choice to invent its own ‘Tola’ language, adding an extra layer of distance rather than creating something you can relate to.
It’s a difficulty which then extends to the performances, but Kit Young and Safia Oakley-Green come the closest to breaking away from those limitations. Similar could be said of Luna Mwezi in Out of Darkness’ final scenes. The three of them capture the raw quality that the film tries for in a lot of other ways, but they instil it with a bigger sincerity.
Young and Oakley-Green give their characters a layered feel, it’s not simple survival, you can tell that they have more to offer, versus the others. Then Mwezi tops that as the film reaches its finale, giving an almost emotionally tortured performance, filled with internal conflict and a desire for a better life. If the rest of the film held the same energy and force as the finale, it would be on a whole other level.
Out of Darkness is shot superbly but feels let down by its story, not having enough to offer to do justice to its excellent aesthetic. It had the potential to create something along the lines of Prey, yet understated but holds such a predetermined doom that it keeps itself distanced from viewers. It simply doesn’t give you enough to invest in, whether that be the mystery behind monsters hunting them or the characters themselves. The performances along with almost every other element are genuinely solid work but they’re being held back by its underwhelming plot.
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