Atmospherically, Out of Darkness is as claustrophobic as a movie lensed outside can feel.
Andrew Cumming’s Stone Age horror film, Out of Darkness, immediately reminded me of 2022’s Prey. It takes a group of people with primitive weapons and pits them against an unseen threat. The difference here is that the adversary doesn’t have high-tech weaponry. But it does have the upper-hand by having familiarity with the environment.
Out of Darkness chronicles a small nomadic clan of people as they move across a newly discovered land. Led by the alpha male, Adem (Chuku Modu,) the group consists of his mate, Avé (Iola Evans,) his son, Heron (Luna Mwezi,) his younger brother, Geirr (Kit Young,) elder, Odal (Arno Luning,) and recently picked-up stray teen girl, Beyah (Safia Oakley-Green.) As the first night falls on the group in their new surroundings, they realize that something is lurking just outside the light of their campfire. Something that eventually starts hunting them.
Director Cumming, along with cinematographer Ben Fordesman, creates a foreboding landscape for our protagonists to explore. Even in the daylight, their surroundings look unwelcoming and desolate. At night, the dark swallows everything around them. Atmospherically, Out of Darkness is as claustrophobic as a movie lensed outside can feel. And that atmosphere aids the simple but effective premise beautifully. The group is in danger from all sides. At all times.
Unfortunately, the script has to do something with the premise and it can’t maintain that level of suspense indefinitely. The eventual reveal of the group’s adversary comes as a bit of a disappointment. And, while the conclusion makes complete sense and doesn’t feel out of left field, it does seem inferior to the set-up. (Obviously, I don’t want to give away the details of either, so I’m being deliberately vague.)
Out of Darkness deserves credit for its solid performances (all delivered in a fictional language), less-is-more production techniques, and an eerie score by Adam Janota Bzowski (Saint Maud.) I just wish the final act was worthy of the effort. While not a waste of time by any means, Out of Darkness fizzles out when it seemed to promise so much more.
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
