The Big Picture

In the Stone Age horror film Out of Darkness, facing the terrors of the world alone won’t save you from the looming darkness. The film explores the fears that arise when facing an unknown threat, uncovering more substantive themes in its final act. Out of Darkness ends on a high note, revealing that the darkness threatening the group was not just literal, but a lack of knowledge.

Much like life, there is little salvation to be found in the Stone Age horror film Out of Darkness when you face the terrors of the world alone. Even for those who may think they are safe by throwing others to the wolves rather than standing by their side, this will not save you from the looming darkness that comes for us all. Directed by Andrew Cumming in his feature debut from a script by Ruth Greenberg, it is a work that requires being coy about what this means as the last act crystallizes and elevates much of what came before to greater heights.

Out of Darkness 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. Release Date February 9, 2024 Director Andrew Cumming Cast Chuku Modu , Kit Young , Safia Oakley-Green , Iola Evans Runtime 87 minutes

Though not the most groundbreaking of genre entries in the journey it takes to get there, as it increasingly feels like it is getting lost in the woods, it is all built around the unknown and the fears that can take hold as we face that down. What it discovers there is where it taps into more interesting thematic territory. While still rather hit-or-miss in execution, it delivers the necessary blow to uncover something more substantive as it all draws to a grim close.

What Is ‘Out of Darkness’ About?

Set 45,000 years ago, the film begins with an exposition dump in the form of a fireside story. We learn that this group of six travelers, Beyah (Safia Oakley-Green), Adem (Chuku Modu), Geirr (Kit Young), Ave (Iola Evans), Odal (Arno Lüning) and Heron (Luna Mwezi), have landed in a strange new land (the actual shooting location is Scotland) where they hope they’ll be able to find a place to build a life free from danger. They all speak a language of the film’s creation, invented by Dr. Daniel Andersson, and the cast each do so naturally. Still, survival proves to be more difficult than they realize as, in addition to a lack of food and shelter, there is something in the darkness that seems to be pursuing them. Is it some sort of stealth Cloverfield-esque monster? A demon that is going to tear them up and eat them? None of them know, but their minds run wild with possibilities as they try to survive in an already harsh world that has been made even more so. When one of their group is taken from them under the cover of night, they’ll attempt to hunt down this mysterious creature without any idea of what they’re dealing with or the danger they may be bringing down upon themselves.

Without giving away the precise details of what this being is, there is soon a sense that these early humans may themselves be a threat just as much as it is. Early on, there is an unsettling moment where we see how the leader of the traveling group is driven by selfish motivations and may not have their best interests at heart. While the establishing of some of the history can feel clunky, with that early campfire scene proving to be as tactful as it gets in laying out the character dynamics, the more harrowing truths it increasingly uncovers largely work. Still, while running just under ninety minutes, the film ends up feeling a little overstretched as it falls into repetition. Characters will run around, we’ll cut to either an overhead shot or an inverted one to disorient us, they’ll maybe take a brief respite, and then it will do that again.

There are moments that are a bit more creative, like when someone is desperately trying to start a fire before they get swallowed up by the night, though the way it is presented certainly looks like it is doing “day for night” and undercuts the fear ever so slightly. The lighting when they are surrounded by darkness is effectively done and there is one jaw-dropping practical gore effect, though these are small bursts of brilliance in a generally basic package. What kicks it up a notch is the strong conclusion that couldn’t have come any sooner.

‘Out of Darkness’ Ends on a High Note
Image via Bleecker Street

Once the film emerges from the forest, the title ends up taking on a greater significance as we discover that it is not just a literal darkness but a lack of knowledge that threatens the group. What it was they were missing is something that can’t be touched on even a little bit, but it is ultimately clear that there was far more going on that none of them were aware of. Once everything clicks into place for you as the audience, and you trace back the trajectory of how the various encounters went with this being, the film retroactively becomes a bit more existentially tragic. It remains dragged down by the frequently directionless sections that preceded it, but the conclusion still finds something more to hang its hat on. When what was quite scattered is brought into painfully sinister focus, Out of Darkness finds the light.

Out of Darkness REVIEWOut of Darkness is an often jaw-dropping horror debut that arrives at a more substantive conclusion that makes everything more interesting in retrospect. ProsWhen the characters are swallowed up by darkness, effective lighting kicks the experience up a notch. The film ends on a high note, retroactively making everything more existentially traigc. ConsThe film can fall into repetitive patterns and often ends up feeling directionless as a result. While running just under ninety minutes, it feels a little bit too overstretched.

Out of Darkness comes to theaters in the U.S. on February 9. Click below for showtimes.

GET TICKETS