Out of Darkness is a prehistoric survival thriller and folk horror film directed by Andrew Cummings. Set back 45,000 years ago, six travelers embark on a journey across the sea in search of a new homeland. Adem (Chuku Modu) led the charge and is the group’s leader alongside his pregnant wife Ave (Iola Evans), his son Heron (Luna Mwezi), his brother Geirr (Kit Young), a tribal, wise older man Odal (Arno Lüning) and a teenager who they refer to as a stray, Beyah (Safia Oakley-Green). As the group begins to settle and night falls, Adem and the others realize that something mysterious and monstrous is hunting them down. Fear sets in as they struggle to survive.
Cummings makes his directorial feature film debut that relies on its atmosphere and the film is very much an arthouse horror. After nearly two years the film is finally getting a wider release. The film initially had its premiere back in 2022 at the BFI London Film Festival and received great praise. One of the film’s strongest points is the beautifully crisp yet dark cinematography. The film was visually well crafted by Ben Fordesman. Fordesman did a great job capturing the barren winter. The film was shot in the Scottish Highlands with a small crew during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
The film is spoken in Tola which adds some authenticity. This was a made-up language that was created just for this project. A language expert was brought in to invent a language as this is one of the most unique offerings the film delivers. Ruth Greenberg wrote the screenplay, however the film felt similar to other atmospheric films. Some of the aspects of the film are very predictable, but some of the end results are somewhat satisfying. The film has a slow-moving pace and a runtime of less than 90 minutes this makes the film feel sluggish especially once the film reaches its third act. Even when the film reaches its climactic ending, it is still slightly underwhelming. I believe this film will make some audiences afraid of the dark, but sadly nothing is truly horrifying. When audiences get to see the monster, it is not very frightening.
The film shows human brutality as the characters fight to stay alive. This film is more than blood and terror. Cummings illustrates that the monster in the film is not the scariest thing, rather it’s the humans that are terrifying. Each of the characters experiences violence and is afraid of the mysterious darkness running in the woods. They have a difficult time trusting each other because they want to stay alive. They are on high alert as panic and fear is set in them as each character is slowly killed off one by one. However, most of the characters are not fully developed. Oakley-Green truly steals the show in an excellent performance. She took on full control with her performance and she’s definitely the character audiences will be rooting for from beginning to end.
Out of Darkness is filled with creative ambition that is presented well and proves to be a solid start for Cummings.
I give this film a 6 out of 10.
