CERT: 18 / PLATFORMS: SHUDDER / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Writer/director Bryan Bertino, since debuting with 2008’s chilling The Strangers, has had an interesting career. Following up his taut slasher hit with a found footage curio (Mockingbird) and a monsters n’ motherhood powerful creature feature (The Monster), now he heads to the remote farmlands of Texas, where something wicked this way comes. And wicked is just the word because you may well need a stiff drink following Shudder exclusive The Dark and the Wicked.
Estranged siblings Louise (Marin Ireland) and Michael (Michael Abbott Jr.) are compelled to return to the family farm in Texas, as their bedridden father’s illness worsens. Cared for by only their mother (Julie Oliver-Touchstone) and a heartfelt nurse (Lynn Andrews), the two worry that this is having an intense strain on their mother. However, upon arrival, they discover that there is far more going on here, as the building grief in their mother, seems to be the result of and an invitation to a great darkness, the power of which is increasingly growing.
At points wielding a Ari Aster-style collection of haunting visions, which bleed into the isolation of the Texan farm setting, Bertino’s latest is a slow burning but absorbing viewing. Increasingly suspenseful thanks to the unpredictable edge of the story, The Dark and the Wicked is an incredibly bleak and sometimes cruel tale. Taking the affliction of illness and the despair that comes with it, this film is about a family shattered by fear and attacked by evil that is drawn to such suffering.
The entity at the heart of this horror is kept effectively distant, often striking through malicious lies and mind games, and as such you only get glimpses of it, which makes the film all the more impactful, as it instead relies on some truly saddening images of suicide, suffering and mutilation, conjured by this evil presence. Particularly the effect these things carry on the characters, and the performances really reflect the complex pain that comes with humanity. Ireland is emotive and excellent as Louise, whose regret grows alongside her strength, while her remorseful but far weaker brother is equally well portrayed by Abbott Jr. Elsewhere, Andrews’ nurse is a rare beacon of hope, alongside some unsettling supporting turns by Oliver-Touchstone as their mentally drained mother and Xander Berkeley as a suspicious priest.
Due to this film’s almost darkly dream-like nature, it does mean some side characters and narratives take time to unfurl and some notes in the story are purposely vague or require some keen attention to unpick, maybe even a second viewing, if you have the heart for it. To that point, the violent and brutal twists do unleash a movie that is perhaps one to be endured more than enjoyed but we can see it grasping a big cult audience (and refusing to let go). Not what you’d call satisfying, but then true horrors rarely are and this is a film that dares to peel back the flesh and focus on those gnarly fears and anxieties beneath, and it is impressively ensnaring in its grey and brutal atmosphere.
The Dark and the Wicked is excellent and uncompromising horror filmmaking.
