In Darkness

Sometimes when actors play a part in writing a movie that they know they will be acting in they spend too much time trying to give their character room to flourish and not enough time on making the rest of the film sustainable. I think that is a little bit of what happened here. Lead actress Natalie Dormer co-wrote the movie with her husband (who also directed the film) and it has to be said she turns in a very impressive performance as a blind woman. The rest of the movie though leaves a lot to be desired.

The biggest problem is has is that it's over-complicated. Many previous films have fallen into the trap of over-complication and it has almost always harmed them. Unless you are Christopher Nolan who seems to be able to simplify even the most complex of storylines, you really shouldn't try too hard in that respect. 'Ocean's Twelve' was a prime example of that. It got so complicated that it was no longer fun. 'In Darkness' is very similar. You're working so hard to keep up with everything that you're never actually able to just sit back and enjoy yourself.

The movie is made with some nice style and I liked the amount of ambition that went into it. It wasn't done on the cheap and nasty, that's for sure. Unfortunately though it just didn't really work for me. It tried to have some "knock your socks off" moments but none of them really landed and the end result was a pretty forgettable film.

I love Natalie Dormer's classic beauty as it has an underlying strength to it. I loved her in Game of Thrones and The Tudors but she really gets the spotlight in this engaging thriller. The problem is the ending seems like is should have been the sequel. In Hockey, they saying goes "Play for 60 minutes", Anthony Byrne was up 5-0 going into the 3rd and lost 6-5 in overtime. By trying to make the ending too twisty, he loses all of the momentum he had so carefully and effectively constructed. This could have been a classic with a bit more modern action and more pathos in the back story especially towards the end. Anthony's TV background shows and not in a good way.

Just watched it. It really is a rather good film. Well acted, well written and with a couple of twists that you might not see coming. I'm a huge fan of Natalie Dormer and she's just terrific here. I don't want to say anymore because I don't want to post any spoilers, but if you fancy watching a tight and exciting UK thriller, I doubt you'll be disappointed. Give it a shot, eh?

Dormer's earlier film The Forest was boring n lousy but in this film she gave a good performance. I liked this film's suspense n story. This movie will keep u glued till the end. The sex scene was necessary to establish the connection between the characters n the nudity to show off the tattoos.

Sofia (Natalie Dormer) is a blind concert pianist in London. She agrees to play for the father of her upstairs neighbor Veronique (Emily Ratajkowski). Veronique falls to her death under suspicious circumstances. It's connected to her war criminal father from Bonsia. There are people after him and Sofia is hiding a secret herself.

It's not the first movie with a blind woman who witnessed a crime. This one takes on some convoluted twists. I question the logic of the big twist. The turns don't really surprise but rather exasperates. Natalie Dormer is a great actress but this doesn't really work. The twists need to be better supported. This movie needs some simplifying.