Raw. That's what this movie was. Set in the paleolithic we follow a band of travellers. They search for a better life. And who can blame them? But tragedy befalls the group when one member is killed. Or so they think. Some reviews say the characters lack depth or a real arc of development but there are real defined individuals here with dynamic traits. The lead male perishes first, a victim of his own overly aggressive pursuit. Brutality follows. Sometimes you just have to eat. How often did our ancestors dine on human flesh? Perhaps it was common place when the situation was dire. I have no difficulty believing that when different groups and tribes met it was often a bloodbath. Different forms of humans would likely see the other as yet another form of food. If not that then as another form of reproductive potential. Are we to believe the first child was abducted for noble reasons? To save it from a failing starving clan? Or did they have ulterior motives? The desolation, complex group dynamics, commentary on ethnocentric violence and homage to a mostly ignored part of human history all make this a film worth seeing. But by the end who do you root for? The child wishes to stay with his abductors.
Review of Out of Darkness
