Dark Places (2015)

Libby Day was only eight years old when her family was brutally murdered in their rural Kansas farmhouse. Almost thirty years later, she reluctantly agrees to revisit the crime and uncovers the wrenching truths that led up to that tragic night.

Director:

Gilles Paquet-Brenner

Writers:

Gilles Paquet-Brenner (written for the screen by), Gillian Flynn (novel)

Stars:

Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Christina Hendricks

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charlize Theron	...	Libby Day
Sterling Jerins	...	Young Libby Day
Nicholas Hoult	...	Lyle Wirth
Christina Hendricks	...	Patty Day
Corey Stoll	...	Ben Day
Tye Sheridan	...	Young Ben Day
Andrea Roth	...	Diondra
Chloë Grace Moretz	...	Young Diondra
Sean Bridgers	...	Runner Day
J. LaRose	...	Trey Teepano (as J LaRose)
Shannon Kook	...	Young Trey Teepano
Jennifer Pierce Mathus	...	Diane
Natalie Precht	...	Michelle Day
Madison McGuire	...	Debby Day
Lori Z. Cordova	...	Magda

Storyline

Libby Day is a lifeless woman who survived the massacre of her family in their farmhouse in the countryside of Kansas when she was eight. She's been living on donations and lectures ever since. Thirty years ago, the police believed that a satanic cult was responsible for the murder of her mother and two sisters, and her brother Ben was convicted with her testimony in court. Today, however, an acquaintance, Lyle Wirth, invites Libby to visit "The Kill Club", where amateurs investigate famous crimes, and she finds that they believe Ben is innocent. Libby needs money and, in return, accepts to revisit the slaughter of her family and comes up to the painful revelations and the ultimate truth.

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Plot Keywords:

private investigator | murder of family | farm | nonlinear timeline | murder of mother | 

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Taglines:

In 1985, her entire family was murdered. 30 years later, the truth emerges.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some disturbing violence, language, drug use and sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA UK France

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 June 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lugares oscuros

Filming Locations:

Shreveport, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$208,588, 31 December 2015

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,090,852, 14 December 2016

Company Credits

Production Co:

Exclusive Media Group, Mandalay Vision, Cuatro Plus Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nicholas Hoult and Tye Sheridan both have roles in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) as Hank McCoy/Beast and Scott Summers/Cyclops, respectively.

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Goofs

During a scene at young Diondra's (Chloë Grace Moretz) house, where she and young Ben Day (Tye Sheridan) have sex and talk about her pregnancy, Moretz smokes a lit cigarette, visibly inhales, but no smoke exits her mouth when she exhales, breathes, talks, or while taking several more drags from the lit cigarette.

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Quotes

Libby Day: I am not angry or sad or happy to see you. I could not give a shit. You don't even ripple.

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Connections

Featured in Bringing 'Dark Places' to Light (2015)

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Soundtracks

I Don't Want Her Here
Written by Turk Dietrich and Michael Jones
Performed by Belong
Courtesy of Kranky, Ltd.

User Reviews

Always skeptical about a movie based on a good book - was not disappointed...

A lot of people compare Dark Places to Gone Girl and say, book-wise, Gone Girl was the better book. I actually liked Dark Places better, so when I found out they were making it into a movie, I was of course skeptical about whether or not it'd be good. I just finished watching it and was happy that my skepticism was for naught - this movie stayed true to the book. Casting was done well and the flow proved that the screenplay writers & director paid attention to the original book.

The book is dark, has some twists and turns and doesn't gloss over anything. Where in Gone Girl I felt like some scenes were made a little lighter for the screen, Dark Places doesn't have that issue. The sets were also very accurate - it's been YEARS since I read the book, but while watching the movie everything came back to me...the layout of the farm house, the crappy apartment Libby lived in as an adult with her collection of stolen items...all the way down to crap hole Runner was living in...

This is not going to be a big blockbuster. Most people will not like it (as you can tell by the ratings) but I will tell you, if you like thrillers/mysteries with twists and turns then watch it. If you've read the book, watch it. It's not the greatest movie ever done, but it was good enough that I felt compelled to write my first IMDb review.

And even if you don't watch the movie, read the book. If you like Patterson, Demille or Clancy, you'll like Dark Places.