I don’t know if I’d recommend Nick Basile’s “Dark,” since its marketing makes it seem like a thriller when in reality it’s actually something of a drama. I went in to “Dark” fully expecting something along the lines of “Repulsion,” but in the end this is more about the sadness of mental illness and the stifling alienation of New York City. “Dark,” produced by Joe Dante, isn’t a badly made movie, mind you. The direction by Basile is great, the performances are top notch, and I love the idea of the premise involving a thriller set during the great black out of 2003. It’s just the delivery falters mid-way and the narrative seems to ride on fumes by the time the second half rolls around.
Whitney Able plays Kate, a disturbed young woman with a haunted past who is having a tough time making her romance work with her girlfriend. Alexandra Breckinridge is as gorgeous as ever, playing Kate’s long suffering girlfriend Leah, who is attempting something of a normal love life, while Kate isn’t quite sure how to adjust; especially now that she’s moved to a new loft in the middle of New York City. After a rough confrontation with Leah during lunch, Kate ventures home, and lo and behold the great blackout of 2003 leaves her virtually stranded in her apartment. Forced to her own devices, Kate tries to deal with her past, thinking back on painful memories, and coming across some odd ball individuals, including an insistent neighbor who wants to party with her.
From the moment the lights go out, “Dark” really seems to struggle to work with what little premise it has. Sometimes there are interesting moments of Kate going through old photos and tearfully trying to reconcile with Leah, and other times there’s unusual filler like her taking pictures of herself in lingerie. Also sometimes she seems horrified of her building, sliding down her dark hallway on the verge of a panic attack; and yet one scene finds her leaving with ease to go to a local night club in a scantily clad dress. Kate is almost literally her own worst enemy, trying to fight off the painful alienation she begins enduring once the lights go out and everyone are left sitting in the dark without anywhere to go. At times she always seems to be looking for trouble when she should be avoiding it.
Despite her mental illness, there’s no other reasoning made for her behavior other than the film requiring forward motion and some sense of obstacles. Granted, Basile’s direction is, as I stated, very good. Some of the scenes involving Kate etching down a stairwell in the darkness and staving off fright are absolutely tense. There’s even one great moment when someone in the hall has a flash light apparently searching for her in the stark darkness. Kate is much too an unlikable protagonist and her sense of isolation and alienation becomes gradually less interesting as the narrative unfolds devolving in to what feel like filler quite often. What’s supposed to tie the film together is the finale, and I saw it coming from miles away if only because Basile telegraphs it with a lot of cutaways and flashbacks that indicate where the narrative might be headed.
This leaves the film feeling abrupt and pretty incomplete, overall. “Dark” has seeds for a great little indie with shining moments of tension sprinkled around, some great actors, and a neat backdrop amidst the chaotic black out of 2003. In the end, it’s only a serviceable film that sadly never delivers anything wholly compelling or gut wrenching, and can never decide if it wants to be a thriller or a drama.
Releasing on June 7th by Screen Media.