Dark Cloud (2022) User Reviews

meh... Typical "AI Gone Wrong" Story, but THAT LIGHTING!!!

[rebeltaz-18705 · 3/10 · 26 June 2022]

For the love of God, will somebody please put an end to the horrific lighting that these people are doing today!? First it was the ridiculously nauseating "found footage" gimmick with everything filmed by what looked like cellphones, and now we have scenes "lit" (or rather not lit) in a style that would have gotten you kicked out of film school and banned for life from even owning a camera ten years ago! Every single scene is filmed in almost complete an utter darkness. Even when there is a light on in the room (which is rare), it might as well be a 4 watt nightlight bulb for all of the light it emits. Then, you have SO many scenes where the actors are backlit with absolutely NO fill light whatsoever, so all you see is a washed out background and shadows where people should be.

If it weren't for that mess, I might be tempted to give this a five or even a six star rating. Yes... the lack of / poor lighting was THAT distracting.

The story itself is nothing new. A girl gets placed in a test house where an AI (artificial intelligence) is supposed to look after her. But (and I am sure this is not a spoiler) the AI goes rogue. It's been done to death. I mean, the story is a little lacking, but it's an ok way to kill a night when there's nothing better to do. Just don't expect mind blowing entertainment and you'll be ok.

Modern day take on Demon Seed

[stevelivesey67 · 4/10 · 22 May 2022]

This could have been a solid AI machine against human thriller except that it is there doesn't appear to be any cohesion between script, actor, director or editor.

In the end it plays out pretty much as you would expect.

Pretty boring and pointless

[imranphysics · 3/10 · 6 September 2022]

Movie develops very slowly and director tried to created a suspence so that one would expect something out of the odds is going to happens but believe me you guy will be disappointed.

I could not understand what was the point of movie, an AI got nuts... i guess, but still it fails to convey the objective of AI, may be AI has fallen in love with hostage girl after watchin her body naked, or AI dont like the control and update software thats why it used the girl to kill the technition and other crewmembers, script of the movie feel out of the subject along with initial story. It was not clear what kind of help girl needed from AI, if someone goes to therapist they dont keep secrets, if someone can figure out what this movie tried to convey share with me.

Solid little indie Flick

[murksmintle · 22 May 2022]

Dark Cloud doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel but it uses it and my wife and I were entertained . The run time felt shorter like an episodic but it still paced good and maybe that isn't a bad thing. Do not watch it expecting it to be what we can see on the Poster cuz it isn't ghost in the shell or Matrix. I am glad I didn't see the poster first because I didn't know what to expect. It's definitely an independent feature and small but it knows it and does not make efforts to go big which works in its favor. . Ive seen a couple of the actors in other independent science fiction movies in festivals. The two guy characters are really weird and the lead actor is likable and I like it. The dialog isnt afraid to have a little bit of fun which assists in balancing out the grim vibes and that works. Its direction style fits right in with the Crohnenbergs, Fincher with splashes of Dario Argento literally there are splashes of argento colours and the score is really cool. It's a low key watch until the end and It is an ambitious independent movie. Not bad.

Slow paced, boring and pointless...

[paul_haakonsen · 2/10 · 20 May 2022]

Right, well the 2022 sci-fi horror movie "Dark Cloud" definitely had a nice poster/cover, and the synopsis sounded interesting enough. Sure, I hadn't even heard about "Dark Cloud" from writer J. J. Kaiser and director Jay Ness before I sat down to watch it.

And talk about a snoozefest. Wow, this movie was just insanely slow paced and uneventful. I even drifted off to sleep once as the movie trotted on in a very monotonous pace with virtually nothing happening as the narrative slowly died.

I will say that "Dark Cloud" seemed to have potential, but writer J. J. Kaiser and director Jay Ness botched it here and delivered a stinking heap of a movie. Trust me, you don't want to waste your time, money or effort on this movie. I was bored to tears suffering through this movie.

The movie has a relatively small cast ensemble, and the actresses and actors are struggling with having virtually nothing to work with in terms of a proper script and storyline, interesting characters or riveting dialogue. Now, I wasn't familiar with any of the performers here, but I bet they were doing their best with having nothing to work with.

My rating of "Dark Cloud" lands on a generous two out of ten stars, based solely on the production value of the movie.

By far worse movie of the year

[victorfernandes-58951 · 2/10 · 8 June 2022]

Not only worse of the year. One of the top 10 worst I've ever seen. And I've seen around 5000 movies in the last 35 years.

Acting is terrible, nothing actually happens 30 minutes in. Very dull and slow.

Be warned, any positive reviews have to be part of the cast. You'll waste your time.

Horr a ble

[rotini-52586 · 1/10 · 25 May 2022]

Just a boring... pointless snoozer of a movie. Yes... I understand the slow build....but it ended up with no rewards. Oh my. Better time folding laundry. The cover of the movie was the best thing about this.

College Co-Ed and her Amazon Alexa

[Horror_Flick_Fanatic · 1/10 · 5 June 2022]

Referring to this film as Sci-Fi is an embarrassment. Without a doubt this film is the most unimaginative film I have ever seen in years. Perhaps it might have been a Black Mirror show if it came out thirty years ago. I really had to fight off the Zs until I reached the end credits. The cover art is also misleading. The acting and the dialogue is cringy bad. I could have done a better job with an Amazon Echo and a pair of Apple Air Pods.

Hey screenwriters, had you asked me I could have given you ideas like the "Aquarius iWatch", "Aquarius Streaming Stick" and the Aquarius Model S Plaid. I could have given you ideas like 2-Day Aquarius Shipping and AquariusFresh Groceries. Smh. Facepalm.

Watch this if you're suffering from insomnia

[pete1-2 · 1/10 · 20 May 2022]

Absolutely the most boring movie I've seen in decades... I would say this film is unwatchable. Life is way too short. I couldn't handle more than 10 minutes of this drivel. Good luck to you if you can stay awake through this full torture of dull video Nothingness.

Other Reviewers Must Have Seen Another Movie

[dsphipps100 · 6/10 · 23 May 2022]

I have no idea why the other reviews for this movie are so negative unless they're "planted" reviews. This was not, by any means, the worst movie I've ever seen, far from it. The plot develops slowly, but not unlike the plot for HAL 9000 in 2001 A Space Odyssey also developing slowly, with an inexorability that grows more and more disturbing as the movie progresses. I've seen plenty of movies with cheap/shoddy CGI and effects, but the effects in this movie were very well done and had a good sense of realism within the narrative. Lastly, I thought Alexys Gabrielle did a very good job of portraying her character. I've seen countless instances of actors/actresses obviously delivering lines they were uncomfortable with or simply had no idea how to do it with any degree of realism, but that is not the case here. I hope other people will give this movie ratings that are considerably more fair to the production quality that went into it.

Great production quality

[sethpioske · 10/10 · 13 September 2022]

I'm having a hard time understanding why this is so poorly reviewed. For somebody who gets bored easily (me), I was totally engaged with this. The production quality was great, score was excellent, acting was great, lighting and videography were awesome, continuity was solid, overall, a pretty damn good independent film. I would love to see more from these film makers. I think people have to understand (and respect) that, when your don't have millions of dollars to make a film, you have to at least try to respect the outcome of something limited further than the mainstream. This film was solid.

Only the best for you

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 27 June 2022]

No pun intended. I don't quite get why the movie gets such a bad rep or rather a low score to be honest. Yes it is not the best horror movie out there, the story is predictable and all ... but it also is very well shot and acted and has a nice overall story.

Again, we won't be surprised to where the story leads us. But sometimes it is the road the movie takes and not so much where it leads us. Although even that is ... well nice. No pun intended of course. Low budget, but also well executed - yes another pun.

Terrible

[mytvsubs-59924 · 1/10 · 30 June 2022]

Terrible writing, acting, and plot. Came across this on a random search on Amazon Prime for new 2022 movies. Should've known it was going to be terrible from the start when none of the actors and are known for anything else and the lead "actress" was annoying as hell. Incredibly boring. Don't waste your time or money.

SLOW

[noony2k · 3/10 · 1 December 2022]

It was very slow and quite boring as not much happened.. This film could of been a lot better..Even when it started to get going a bit nothing really exited happened also like another person pointed out it was quite predictable from first 10 mins of watching it. I gave it a 3 star for the effort but apart from that that's it. I've seen other films along lines of this movie and they ave been quite good.. some have started a bit slow like this one did but once it got going you realised it was worth the wait. I actually thought this was going to get going once or twice through watching but unfortunately it didn't.

Awesome!

[liamroot · 10/10 · 1 July 2022]

Great movie, give it a shot! You won't be disappointed. If you like black mirror you will like this. Loved the storytelling and cool sci fi outfits. I think it is overall a great movie I could watch again.

Predictable but I stayed till the end.

[ZeddKayy · 7/10 · 5 June 2022]

Don't watch it if you're looking for something fresh. Also, the poster fooled me into thinking this was gonna be really exciting. Actor was great but I would've liked more screen time for the other characters.

Slow and relaxing

[fluffchop · 6/10 · 1 January 2023]

The movie is a slow one. It's not an action adventure shoot 'em up blood, guts and gore film. Not much happens over a long period of time. Eventually there is an ending. It's an ending which you would almost expect to happen as we've seen this sort of film done many times. There never seems to be a movie where tech goes right and everyone benefits. It's always the situation that tech goes wrong and people become enslaved. The first Matrix movie was good that way. It had a breaking free of the enslavement. Then they made the two sequels which crushed that freedom which was just lame. I'm sure they never expected it to have the success the first movie did. When it was successful they cashed in. The only way to do that was to have a Matrix 2.0 or was it 10.0 by that time. Who knows or cares. But it too managed to have humanity enslaved by the tech. Now you look around at the world now, and it's no longer old Nokia phones it's faces permanently buried into little black rectangles with fingers pecking like chickens at a feeder. The enslavement is here already right? Don't you think so? It's a sad state of affairs and one which this movie of course just ends up being that way.

Didn't know if I would like or not, but I did!!!

[BC4Pack · 10/10 · 30 June 2022]

Quite confused by the negative comments. I personally was entertained throughout. I love this genre, so I would assume they don't. Will make sure NOT to watch the ones they actually like.

Ignore hatefull reviews

[draganerion · 10/10 · 1 June 2022]

This is nice and good futuristic movie...so many haters these days...this is artistic and futuristic scfi movie...simple and storytelling. If you like black mirror you will like this also.

Dynamic Indy--Psychological Thriller Fan here...

[chelseygrant-01808 · 10/10 · 21 July 2022]

I really enjoyed Dark cloud. I found the characters to have more depth and strength to them compared to other Horror and Sci-Fi films I have seen, which was a great surprise. Some reviews have been saying it's boring-- to me, it was the complete opposite. It has eerie Black Mirror vibes, but additional layers that remind me of solid stage family dramas. The characters have unique and grounded qualities. I find the quiet moments just as effective as the more cinematic ones. That is not easy to do. HUGE fan of the color grade. Watch on a larger screen (rather than a laptop), if possible, and turn out your lights if you think it's "too dark". SO Worth it. Overall dynamic indy.

HAL 9000 comes of age

[abmarchant · 9/10 · 15 February 2024]

Perfectly paced tech horror with clean cinematography, consistent characterization, and a compelling plot. Maybe you could criticize the Alexys Gabrielle for being too cute by half, but she proves capable in projecting the full gamut of emotional states.

The collection of previous reviews are incomprehensibly inaccurate: "doesn't appear to be any cohesion between script, actor, director or editor" - No, it all hangs together perfectly.

"insanely slow paced and uneventful" - paul_haakonsen shouldn't review films that he admits to sleeping through.

"nauseating found footage" and "filmed in almost complete an utter darkness" - The movie includes no shaky or low-res scenes, and the night-time scenes are professionally worked to supply the necessary detail.

Rotini-52536 and Horror_Flick_Fanatic should be banned for generic 1-star reviews that say absolutely nothing about this particular movie.