Out of Darkness

Despite set 43,000 years ago Out of Darkness taps into many current issues, with a infusion of horror tropes.

Gathered around a campfire are the small family of father Adem (Chuku Modu), son Geirr (Kit Young), daughter Heron (Luna Mwezi), pregnant partner Ave (Iola Evans), plus the elder Odal (Arno Luning) and ‘stray’ Beyah (Safia Oakley-Green). Telling a story it soon becomes clear that it is theirs and their struggle to find a land where they can live contentedly.

At first it all looks good but the terrain is rough and the soil poor. Plus there is a feeling that something evil is stalking them, after finding the remains of what could have been a Mammoth skilfully hunted and gutted.

The male hierarchy is on full show as father and son hunt while the others stay behind. But as food become an issue they are forced to move on. Heron is abducted and the remaining group enter a forest they had previously avoided. Here they are on the creature’s turf and at its mercy complicated by the groups fear and squabbling.

Impressively filmed over wide rugged terrain and dense forest director Andrew Cumming and co-writers Ruth Greenberg and Oliver Kassman balance well the social pressures on the group as well as the enveloping tension within the forest and later in a cave system.

The cast speak Tola a fabricated language for the film though it sounds authentic enough. The main thing is that they are still able to develop characters and ensure some element of empathy. That however doesn’t happen until later on as the film was difficult to get into up until the later stages.

The use of standard horror tropes such as stalking creatures in the dark woods by the light of the fire don’t hurt the film at all and are impressively staged.

Without giving too much away the filmmakers seemed to prioritise other issues above creating fantasy terror. The issues they confront the viewer and the characters with such as patriarchy, social divides and prejudice have clear contemporary relevance.

They pose questions about the corrosive effects of ignorance and wilful intolerance: asking, who are the monsters?
Strip away the animal skins and setting, there’s not a lot subtly here and to be fair sometimes these issues can’t be handled that way.

Out of Darkness will be in UK cinemas on 23 February 2024