Dark Encounter
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Dark Encounter |
| Original title | Dark Encounter |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2019 |
| length | 98 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Carl Strathie |
| script | Carl Strathie |
| production | Carl Strathie Alan Latham Charlette Kilby |
| music | David Stone Hamilton |
| camera | Bart Sienkiewicz |
| cut | Chris Timson |
| occupation | |
| |
Dark Encounter is a 2019 British film directed by Carl Strathie . In the science fiction - Mystery - Thriller aliens solve a criminal case in rural Pennsylvania .
action
Pennsylvania, November 1982: Ray and Olivia, married couple, who live in the outskirts of a small town, return home from town. Their eight-year-old daughter Maisie has disappeared without a trace and will not appear again.
One year later. After a funeral service, the extended family arrives at Ray and Olivia's house. In addition to the two and their son Noah, these are Ray's brother Billy, Olivia's sister Arlene and her husband Kenneth, who is the sheriff of a neighboring parish, and Olivia's widowed brother Morgan. The initially good mood changes when Ray teases his brother Billy down for no reason and obviously has problems overcoming the loss of his daughter.
Ray notices a strange play of light in the forest. He suspects a prank by children in the area and sets out to confront them in the forest. Against his will, Morgan, Billy, Sheriff Kenneth and his son Noah join him. They drive into a piece of forest, where they witness strange phenomena: the car's electronics are going crazy, an inexplicable light phenomenon crosses the forest, and suddenly the Morgan standing by the car disappears without a trace. The sisters Olivia and Arlene, who remained in the house, are startled by rumbling noises.
After the men return, the house becomes even more sinister. The light flickers erratically, electrical devices start automatically, an invisible force attracts metal objects and a being sneaks around the house and apparently tries to penetrate it. Drawn by the glaring light, Ray, Kenneth and Arlene disappear one after the other. The remaining Billy, Olivia and Noah flee from the property on the adjacent country road, where they witness a light show in the night sky, which makes it clear that the events can be traced back to extraterrestrial beings. The trio is picked up by the local sheriff and another policeman and driven back to the house. Neither of the three tells the law enforcement officers what actually happened, rather they invent a story of a trio of burglars. At their own request, the three stay behind in the house and barricade themselves in the bedroom of the missing daughter.
An alien enters the bedroom and kidnaps Olivia. This can be found in a kind of copy of the house, in which she can look through the window into the room in which she is currently, but in which the scenes take place that led to the disappearance of her daughter Maisie a year earlier: While Ray and Olivia were in town, Sheriff Kenneth visited the girl and took advantage of her parents' absence to rape her. He then killed the girl and buried her in the forest where the light shows began a year later. Olivia wakes up in her bed.
All previously disappeared people suddenly reappear in the house. Everyone was shown what happened a year ago by the aliens, and Kenneth's act is now known to everyone. The last scene shows that Ray and Olivia were able to process what happened and have found inner peace.
History of origin
Dark Encounter is the second feature film from director Carl Strathie, who shot the science fiction thriller Solis in 2018 . Actor Sid Phoenix , who also played a role in Dark Encounter, was part of the crew at the time . Cinematographer Bart Sienkiewicz , film editor Chris Timson and film composer David Stone Hamilton also worked for both films . Strathie is self-taught and never attended film school, but made various short films before Solis . Although Dark Encounter is set in a small town in the rural United States, the film was shot entirely in Yorkshire , UK for reasons of cost . Interior shoots took place at GSP Studios near Selby in North Yorkshire . The shooting took place in early 2018.
The film premiered on August 23, 2019 at the British film festival FrightFest . In Germany it was shown at the Fantasy Filmfest in September 2019 .
reception
| Ratings | |
| Eye for film | 2.5 / 5 |
| Film-Rezensions.de | 5/10 |
| Filmstarts.de | 3/5 |
| Hollywood News | 4/5 |
In terms of the use of light and sound effects, Filmstarts.de saw parallels to the Steven Spielberg film Uncanny Encounters of the Third Kind . The magazine assessed that the film started as an atmospherically dense science fiction thriller, but at the end it tipped over into a “kitschy melodrama” that did not bring the two storylines together. But it praised the “successful time color” and a “carefully constructed, ominous atmosphere”. Hollywood News praised the film for its originality. Director Strathie dispenses with striking shock effects, but achieves an oppressive atmosphere through the targeted use of light and sound that pulls the viewer under its spell. The British magazine Eye for Film saw parallels with the science fiction dystopia Interstellar from 2014 and praised the fact that Strathie could copy the magic of his obvious role model Spielberg in quieter moments. However, the magazine criticized the fact that the director had“overloaded the script with drama”,as with his predecessor Solis , so that the viewer could not appreciate individual scenes because the film immediately jumped to the next scene. Filmrezensions.de was irritated by the location of the film in the 1980s, for which there was no need for content. The magazine attests that the film has a successful atmosphere that creates curiosity and excitement. However, it notes negatively that Strathie lengthens scenes too much and that the phenomena are repeated, which leads to the film running out of air towards the end.
Web links
- Dark Encounter in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Trailer on YouTube
Individual evidence
- ↑ Clearance certificate for Dark Encounter . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF).
- ↑ DRM.am: Interview with Carl Strathie on Solis. Retrieved September 28, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c Filmstarts.de: Dark Encounter. Retrieved September 28, 2019 .
- ↑ On-Magazine.co.uk: On The Set Of Dark Encounter - Yorkshire Made sci-fi movie. Retrieved September 28, 2019 .
- ↑ EyeForFilm.co.uk: Dark Encounter. Retrieved September 28, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Film-Rezensions.de: Dark Encounter. Retrieved September 28, 2019 .
- ↑ a b TheHollywoodNews.com: 'Dark Encounter' Review. Retrieved September 28, 2019 .