As concepts for a survival horror film go, Out of Darkness (formerly Origin) is an intriguing one. It’s still man vs. wild with grim outcomes for man, but Andrew Cumming’s film takes it back to its simplest form.
Set 45000 years ago, it follows a small band of early humans as they arrive on new lands after a torrid time getting there. Morale and enthusiasm are high upon finally making it, but soon fizzles out as the land proves to be largely inhospitable and tensions rise among the group. Things only get worse when a mysterious and dangerous entity begins to hunt them.
As the situation gets more and more desperate, the group’s dynamic splinters and the result is a savage war for authority and life.
Two things quickly stand out in Out of Darkness. The cinematography is sumptuous, making the Scottish Highlands feel as isolated and ancient as the film implies them to be. It’s beautiful scenery to work with that’s for sure, but framing it just right still takes work, and that’s definitely been achieved by cinematographer Ben Fordesman (Saint Maud).
The other is the film’s fictional language. TOLA is a sewn-together tapestry of Arabic, Basque, and Sanskrit that folds effortlessly into the film. The actors involved clearly embrace the language, and thanks to some strong emotive performances and simple, clear views of what’s occurring even in the murkiest of night scenes, it’s easy to swallow them speaking it throughout.
This combination of audiovisual delights does Out of Darkness plenty of favors, and coupled with a dread-drenched score by Adam Janota Bzowski it makes a strong first impression. It needs that because Out of Darkness doesn’t get any better than those opening scene-setting moments.
Once the entity is introduced, there is a measure of intensity and uncertainty as the small clan is picked off one by one, but Out of Darkness struggles to keep the stakes high as the numbers dwindle. It descends into predictable back-and-forth survival action that only holds one card: the mystery behind the identity and visage of the killer thing in the darkness,
Out of Darkness takes a big hit when that reveal is finally done because it nullifies a lot of the tension built up previously. Something about it just doesn’t click with the story we’ve been told, even if I can see the intention behind it. On some level, the message it plays out with is an interesting cautionary tale as old as time, but the loss of mystique drowns it out.
It’s a shame that Out of Darkness unravels so quickly toward the end because so much good work has gone into how it looks and sounds, and the performances are strong across the board. There’s the bones of something great here that Andrew Cumming and writer Ruth Greenberg can build on for future projects. The effort and ambition are clearly there; it’s just lopsided in where it was applied.
Score 6/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 6 equates to ”Decent”. It fails to reach its full potential and is a run-of-the-mill experience.
Out of Darkness will be released in theaters on February 9, 2024 in The Us, Uk, and Ireland.
Disclosure: ComingSoon received a screener for the Out of Darkness review
