“The danger in bringing light to a dark place, is that you might find out what lives in the darkness,” says the eerie wise man Odal (Arno Lüning) early in the film Out of Darkness. This statement serves as the film’s mission statement as the small tribe it depicts learns that their biggest enemy is nature and shadows. The footage, which was shot in the Scottish Highlands during the pandemic, shows how the gang uses the rolling hills as assault courses and how little pockets of firelight serve as their only source of nighttime cover.
In terms of storytelling, the survival-horror checkbox is gradually crossed off as characters argue to be the next to be cut down. Although there is a lot of blood, the real impact is in the silences created by the masterful sound design. Throughout the brief running duration of the movie, debut filmmaker Andrew Cumming builds tension without resorting to jump scares.
Has more dirt under its fingernails and echoes of Prey.
But this goes beyond just hacking and slashing because the storyline incorporates contemporary conundrums. Safia Oakley-Green takes center stage in the movie as Beyah, a “stray” who is taken in by the group and challenges the status quo while fuming at Adem’s (Chuku Modu) schemes for her. With more dirt beneath its fingernails, Oakley-Green’s tenacity and the patriarchal undertones of the plot are reminiscent of 2022’s Prey.
Even though they are speaking in a fake stone-age language, the ensemble has their moments, with emotion flowing throughout. Adem from Modu exudes leadership qualities while gradually exposing a darker side. Lüning portrays the kind of flamboyant figure that this kind of movie needs, while Kit Young, who plays Adem’s younger brother Geirr, who is split between survival and loyalty, feels like a ticking time bomb.
Many horror-thrillers conclude with the big confrontation, but Out of Darkness chooses to explore the nature of the unknown in greater detail toward the end. It’s energizing, giving you something more to ponder than graphic murder scenes.