The Dark is a 2018 horror film about two tortured souls who are unexpectedly thrown together, and go on a journey of friendship and revenge.
Monsters are defined as large, ugly creatures which happen to often be imaginary as well. Since a young age we are taught that monsters are something so awful and incomprehensible that they must be figments of our imagination, conjured up by our innermost fears. However, The Dark explores the reality that monsters are often more real than we’d like to believe and hide amongst us with their deceiving faces that aren’t ugly at all.
The notorious Devil’s Den lies within a rural and isolated part of the country that most people avoid at all costs, yet approach with caution if there is no escaping the inevitable. Why? Because legend has it that a deformed and malicious spirit of a young girl dominates the woods, and viciously slaughters anyone that crosses her path. One lone man ventures into those woods, and succumbs to his fate at the hands of the vengeful spirit. It’s this encounter that brings together two tortured souls that have been more in common than they would have first thought possible.
The Dark is Justin P. Lange’s first directorial debut and one that he should be proud of. The audience are immediately faced with a death that comes across as brutal and unneeded, at the hands of the spirit who is horrifically disfigured and exhibits an aggressive behaviour towards the innocent. After murdering this unknown man, we soon realise that our protagonist will not be the victim and will be the so-called monster. Our monster soon realises her decision to kill has left a young boy, Alex, alone in the woods with nowhere to turn to as he is blind; something he was not born with, but from the burn scars around his eyes suggests he was abused and ridden of his sight. From here it seems that it would be difficult to build on such a premise and cause the audience to feel enticed, yet this story between the young boy and girl is a beautiful tale of friendship and revenge.
Mina, played by Nadia Alexander, and Alex played by Toby Nichols, are damaged children that have a mutual bond through their previous ordeals at the hands of adults they believed they could trust. It’s through flashbacks and descriptions by both that the audience learn that both the children have gone through horrific upbringings that have led them to be viewed as monsters by those around them. Throughout the film we see this bond develop, and grow into something that is only understandable between the deepest of connections made in our human lives. Mina has always been considered a monster that is ugly, deformed and kills because she has a hunger for human flesh, yet Alex cannot see what she really looks like and only knows her for her kind and nurturing nature. They see past each other’s imperfections and through to who they really are behind the scars and damages, and it’s clear that neither of them are the monsters of this film.
Lange perfectly takes the concept that monsters are not the ugly ones, but monsters are humans and they hide behind perfect faces. Both Mina and Alex have been victims at the hands of monsters who were hiding in plain sight, not amongst the trees. Both of the children have shed other’s blood, but their revenge is warranted when we learn what they have been through and why they mistrust most of the adults that have ever been in their lives.
The Dark is a mesmerising yet melancholy tale of monsters, friendship and the horror of abuse.