Out of Darkness Review

Out of Darkness is a pre-historic survival-horror film that has played well on the festival circuit. It now has a chance to reach wider audiences thanks to Signature Entertainment in the UK and Ireland.

45,000 years ago a ragtag band of humans arrived in a new land. Despite the promises of a bountiful land by their leader Adem (Chuku Moda), all they find is a harsh wilderness. As the group travels to the mountains to find a cave, their youngest member, Heron (Luna Mwezi) is abducted by a mysterious creature and they are forced to go on the hunt.

Out of Darkness was a long time coming. It was filmed in November 2020 during the pandemic and premiered at the London Film Festival in 2022. Despite it playing in prestigious festivals, being nominated for five BIFAs, and winning one for its star Safia Oakley-Green, it has taken until 2024 for it to get a cinematic release.

Out of Darkness was an ambitious little film from its debut writer and director. It was shot in the Scottish Highlands in autumn, which would have been tough and made tougher by the COVID-19 filming restrictions. Additionally, the characters spoke a language specially created for the film, making Out of Darkness a non-English language film. This combination of a survival story in a tough climate and ‘ancient’ language made the film draw comparisons to Apocalypto. The storyline involving the main characters going out into the wilderness to find a kidnapped group member brought back memories of Bone Tomahawk. Both films were great references since they are held in high regard by film fans and the people behind Out of Darkness would hope their film achieves similar cult success.

As a horror film, Out of Darkness had a strong atmosphere. The fear for the characters came from the unknown. The monster only attacked at night, so the group couldn’t see beyond their fires. Darkness surrounded them and all they could hear was a horrific shriek. The director, Andrew Cumming followed the basic rules of horror: the unknown can be scarier. The characters were venturing into the unknown land and face an unknown threat. When violence was shown it was short but sharp. It was shockingly graphic with brief glimpses.

The part of the horror came from the group dynamic. There was tension throughout. The film opened with the group telling each other stories and there was passive aggression between them. Adem told Beyah (Safia Oakley-Green) that her story was pathetic, leading to the oldest member of the group, Odal (Arno Luening) telling the story about how Adem led them to the new land. Beyah was the outsider to the group: she described herself as a stray and Adem disliked her, yet she had to take the lead when the group were in a grave situation. As the group’s issues became more dire, they had to take more desperate actions.

The original title for the film was The Origin. This title would have played into the film’s theme, the origins of man. Two of the characters were called Adem and Ave, which was similar to Adam and Eve. This group showed that humanity’s origins were conflict and violence between itself and against outsiders.

The idea of a pre-historic survival horror film was a cool concept and Out of Darkness acted as a good calling card for the team behind the film. It was a straightforward story but it had depth because of its characters and deeper themes.