Forty-five thousand and two years ago, a small band of humans attempt to make it to the caves and safety of a distant mountain before they are decimated by a mysterious creature that is hunting them. Yes, I tacked on two years to the timeline as this British film originally hit the film-festival circuit back in 2022 (previously titled The Origin).
Bleeker Street distribution has now released the film as Out of Darkness and it is an intense, atmospheric and compelling observation of the human condition – sort of a cross between Quest for Fire (1981) and the opening prehistoric part of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The desolation of the tundra and the unnerving look of the forest make this a truly unique and visually poetic thriller as the hunter/gatherers become the hunted in a world of woolly mammoths and other Paleolithic life forms, with a few twists I did not see coming.
The unknown cast here is superb and they all convincingly speak a cave-man language that was created specifically for the film. Actress Safia Oakley-Green is the standout here as Beyah, a “stray” the small group has taken in. She must survive the thing hunting them and her newfound family as well.
Directed by Andrew Cumming with cinematography by Ben Fordesman, I loved this film’s use of drone footage to convey the group’s isolation and vulnerability. And while watching you might think the movie was shot in New Zealand or some otherworldly location, but according to the end credits it was filmed in Scotland and the United Kingdom. (Who knew it looked like that.)
Even though it has taken a couple of years for Out of Darkness to see the light of day, in many respects, in today’s hate-filled world, its message is as timely as ever. The film is currently in limited release but it is very much worth seeking out.
