Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Director: Anthony Byrne, Defiant Screen Entertainment.
Cast: Natalie Dormer, Ed Skrein, Emily Ratajkowski, Joely Richardson.
In scenes reminiscent of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, the start of this psychological thriller is inspired. The multi-layered, montage of storylines will keep you guessing.
Even the plot has a Hitchcockian technique to it – and no wonder – because it was director Byrne’s love for movies like Rear Window, Vertigo and Marnie that motivated him to make In Darkness.
A blind musician hears a murder committed in the apartment upstairs from hers that sends her down a dark path into London’s coarse criminal underworld. Sofia (Dormer, Game of Thrones, Hunger Games) is the pianist. She prefers to be independent and does a capable job of not letting her sightless world become a stumbling block. We see how she negotiates it.
Then one-by-one the storyline twists come filtering through: Sofia meets her outgoing neighbour Veronique (Ratajkowski), who thanks her for consenting to play at her “father’s benefit”. Sofia then asks her about the “scent she’s wearing”. At first, the reply is “that’s my secret”. In the next encounter, she reveals the perfume is called ‘Liquid Gold’. It’s a crucial clue, of course.
Then after Veronique falls to her death, the lingering question is whether she was pushed. The intrigue then develops further after Detective Mills (Neil Maskell) starts making inquiries. Where does Marc (Skrein, Deadpool) fit into the framework? How do the Braille messages complete the picture?
Then there’s the connection with Veronique’s father, Milos Radic (Jan Bijvoet). This Bosnian businessman is in London and is likely to face war crimes charges.
Revenge is obviously a key premise of the film, but there are also universal themes of ‘redemption, forgiveness, familial love and, crucially, identity’.
Dormer co-wrote the convincing film with her director-husband Byrne, who says: “Sofia’s journey through In Darkness forces her to confront her past, her own darkness, both literally and figuratively, the reckoning that has shaped her entire existence and ultimately whether she can take revenge at the very moment it is presented to her.”
You can win one of two DVDs of In Darkness if you correctly name a television series that featured Natalie Dormer.
Entries should be sent to [email protected] by next Monday, 17 September 2018. Names of the winners will be announced in Frank Cassidy’s PS-sssst…! column next week.
