British Actress Blog

In Darkness (2018)

Score: 7/10

Director: Anthony Byrne

Stars: Natalie Dormer, Emily Ratajkowski, Ed Skrein.

In Darkness

Natalie Dormer

Synopsis: A blind musician hears a murder committed in the apartment above hers. This event sends her down a dark path into England’s criminal underground.

Review: A young blind woman named Sophia ( Natalie Dormer ) has heard the murder of her upstairs neighbor. Her neighbor was apart of a conspiracy to kill a warmonger who has ravaged eastern Europe. This of course makes her a unexpected witness so the criminal underground decides to ‘vet’ her as a way of seeing if they should kill her or if they should leave her alone.

Sofia

Natalie Dormer

So two Game of Thrones actors are in this film, both Natalie Dormer and Ed Skrein. Queen Margaery and the original Daario Naharis. I see Game of Thrones actors working together a lot like the film Cinderella (2015) and Low Down (2014). Natalie Dormer does a competent job in this film, especially when she is acting afraid for her life. Ed Skrein does so much better in this film than his movie Collide (2016) with Felicity Jones and the Ben Kingsley. In that film he was ridiculously invincible.

Sofia (Left)

Marc (Right)

The film focuses on the concept that nothing is what it seems, just like most spy thrillers. In the film The Recruit (2003) staring Colin Farrell and Al Pacino, the main antagonist repeats that line over and over again. This is a major problem with spy thrillers because the are very predictable like the film Atomic Blond (2017) starring Charlize Theron and James McAvoy. Where it is very obvious who the bad guy was from the first frame of him being in the movie. Both James McAvoy’s character and Al Pacino’s character face the same fate. Certain characters die just to hyper villainize the bad guy so that the writers and director can make us hate the bad guy as way of controlling the narrative. In this case the fate of James McAvoy’s character is a reflection of the current state of politics at the time of this review. I wont spoil anything in this review but the main protagonist does something that the main antagonist does in the film Red Lights (2012) starring Sigourney Weaver. I say that because spy films are very typical and usually not very creative at all, but this film ‘In Darkness’ is the exception.

Interesting

Film

The cinematography is well done but uneven. Sometimes the camera work is mediocre and sometimes its absolutely perfect. The lighting is done well, again sometimes better than others. The backgrounds, set dressing, and wardrobe are all done well. The film is way better that the other spy films I have seen. The only other spy film I could recommend is the Kate Beckinsale movie Nothing But the Truth (2018) but that film focuses more on her character being journalist chasing a CIA Non official cover operative (NOC) for a story to publish. As for this movie, I found it to be obvious yet entertaining enough to watch. Again its a spy thriller so its a predictable movie, but the actors performances were good enough to make this film work. This movie is above average and just competent as a film. Watch it if your bored.

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