Dark Encounter (2019)

8 y.o. Maisie went missing in 1982 and a memorial is held a year later. That evening, strange lights, sounds etc. are observed in the woods outside. Aliens.

Director:

Carl Strathie

Writer:

Carl Strathie

Stars:

Laura Fraser, Mel Raido, Sid Phoenix

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Laura Fraser	...	Olivia Anderson
Mel Raido	...	Ray Anderson
Sid Phoenix	...	Billy Anderson
Grant Masters	...	Kenneth Burroughs
Spike White	...	Noah Anderson
Alice Lowe	...	Arlene Burroughs
Nicholas Pinnock	...	Sheriff Reese Jordan
Vincent Regan	...	Morgan Anderson
Bridget Doherty	...	Maisie Anderson
Sean Knopp	...	Deputy Miles
Kate Coogan	...	Deputy Doyle
Charlette Kilby	...	Weather Reporter
Simon Bond	...	Male TV Anchor
Sarah Winter	...	Jeanette Bradey (TV voice)
Anne Wittman	...	Headmistress (TV voice)

Storyline

A year after the mysterious disappearance of an 8 year-old girl, we meet her grieving family as they return home from her memorial service in their small town. Later that evening, strange lights appear in the nearby forest and the family is exposed to an inexplicably strange phenomenon that rattles them to the core. The origin of the lights appear to be visitors from another world that seemingly terrorize the family.

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Plot Keywords:

white collar | alien | broken family | betrayal | spoiler alert paedophilia | 

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Taglines:

Don't look up

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Genres:

Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Did You Know?

Trivia

This film gives quite a few nods to various scenes in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Signs and E.T. If you have seen theses films, then it will be quite blatant.

User Reviews

Excellent until it fails at the 3/4 mark

This is what you get when the writer of the story is the editor of the story and the director and the producer. There's no one to tell him, "hey, this is not good. You need to fix that."

All around the movie is surprisingly good. The acting was believable, the characters and characterizations are good, the sets are good, the continuity was accurate, the music was extremely good, and the special effects were adequate to the job. Many bits and pieces are lifted from movies like Close Encounters and Signs, but that's ok too.

The first 3/4s of the movie are edge of the seat chills and thrills, but then the story shifts in a totally unexpected direction. This is considered "the unique twist." The 'twist' is something that modern scriptwriters seem desperate to pull off and almost none of them actually do it. The Sixth Sense may be the last movie where it really worked. In this particular movie, the writer/editor/director/producer throws in the monkey wrench without the slightest attempt to justify it except to offer a lame, "I don't know. We don't understand it. We may never understand it." It's Aliens, so sure, how could we understand it? But that's just not good enough. The motivation fails. Why the Aliens do what they do makes no sense unless you just accept "well, they are aliens, so their motivation is alien." That may be fine for people who shut off their brain to "enjoy the movie," but for people who enjoy the movie by thinking about it, it doesn't work.

The plot twist does not ruin the movie but it leaves an unsatisfied feeling that a good storyteller would not leave. If you don't mind being let down by the ending and being left scratching your head trying to make the nonsensical reasoning, it's worth a watch. There are a lot worse movies out there.

Details

Official Sites:

Production Company

Country:

UK

Release Date:

24 October 2019 (Kuwait)

Also Known As:

Dark Encounter

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,672

Company Credits

Production Co:

Strathie Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Aspect Ratio:

2.39:1