By the Time It Gets Dark (2016) User Reviews

confused but intrigued

[declanmoffatt · 6/10 · 28 March 2022]

I had to watch this movie for a class, but it is a stunningly beautiful piece with a lot of confusion intertwined. The opening scene clearly gave the audience an understanding of what was being done by making something feel authentic only to rip it to shreds by showing what was really going on. The end of the opening scene was brilliant both in the shots chosen and the introduction of the long pauses that would be present and very meaningful throughout the film. I was confused for many of the scenes that did not have Ann, and the many references to mushrooms. I tied the mushroom theme loosely to psychedelic trips, but I was not totally sure about that connection. The movie was beautifully shot but left me questioning many of the scenes that it contained.

what lies beyond the borders of a picture

[szaller · 9/10 · 20 February 2021]

A very brave choice of topic (i.e. the bloody events of 6 October 1976, which are rarely talked about in Thailand) but what is even more impressive is the way the story is told. On the surface, BTTIGD is about a young female director preparing for making a movie about the events of '76. The story slowly unfolds, in the present days, as she is interviewing one of the leaders of the student protests against the military coup. However, the movie's clear linear structure quickly erodes and each scene, each event, each recollection of memory, and even person(!) gets multiple interpretations thus making it harder and harder to tell what has really happened (and what is happening on the screen). Director Anocha compared it to a photo or a painting that is never limited by its frame, since our brain can always add more details beyond the physical boundaries. But with each addition, with each filling of the gaps, our memories lose a tiny bit of their authenticity making it practically impossible to recall and understand past events, especially traumatic ones. And although every scene is banal and everyone acts completely normal, the movie slowly becomes a surrealistic piece of art culminating in a rather unexpected final shot (about which the director had to warn the projectionist in advance).

One of the most boring and uneventful movies...

[paul_haakonsen · 2/10 · 18 January 2021]

Right, well I sat down in 2021 to watch the 2016 Thai drama titled "By the Time It Gets Dark" (aka "Dao khanong") from writer and director Anocha Suwichakornpong. Sure, I hadn't even heard about the movie prior to sitting down to watch it, much less knowing what it was about.

What made me pick up this movie was two things, first of all it had actor Arak Amornsupasiri on the cast, and secondly it being a Thai movie that I hadn't already seen also made me have an interest in it, of course.

And I have to say that "By the Time It Gets Dark" is slow-paced. So very, very slow paced. Nothing happened, literally, in the entire course of the movie. There was a whole lot of filming nothing, showing scenes where the actors weren't even in the screen, but doing something outside of the screen. This movie is definitely not a movie with a broad appeal to everyone in the audience. For me, this was a massive swing and a miss.

I managed to endure a painstaking 1 hour of pure torment and absolute boredom as I watch nothing transpire as the movie trotted on. Then I just tossed the towel in the ring and gave up. This movie was so boring it was unfathomable. And just prior to hitting the 1 hour mark, actor Arak Amornsupasiri showed up in the movie, but by that time it was too late and I had already lost interest in the movie.

"By the Time It Gets Dark" is not a movie that I will recommend to anyone, and it surely wasn't a gem in the Thai cinema, And I can honestly say that I have absolutely no interest in returning to watch the remaining 45 minutes that I was missing to watch.

My rating of "By the Time It Gets Dark" lands on a generous two out of ten stars.