Remakes are as common today as ever before, much to the chagrin of many moviegoers. For my money, I don’t mind watching a remake if it is done well, serves a purpose, or happens to be a remake of a film I missed the first time around, as is the case with And Soon the Darkness. This 2010 film is a remake of the 1970 movie of the same name that has been Americanized to some degree. Replacing two British female lead characters on a trip to France with two American girls on a trip to Argentina, And Soon the Darkness is nothing more than a mediocre effort with little to set itself apart from other thrillers in this style.
The night before they are scheduled to leave Argentina, Stephanie (Amber Heard) and Ellie (Odette Yustman) visit the local bar. While there Ellie, the more outgoing of the two, meets a guy, and ditches Stephanie, who heads for bed. Around 3:00 am, Stephanie is woken up to the sound of two people making out against her window: it’s Ellie and her new friend. This new guy wants to take things further than Ellie is willing to go and the two start to struggle, getting the attention of the girls’ neighbor, Michael (Karl Urban). Michael helps Ellie make it to her room and all is well. The next day, after missing their bus, the two girls get into an argument and split up in this foreign country. Feeling badly about what she did, Ellie texts Stephanie to meet up at a local diner. Stephanie goes to the diner but there is no sign of Ellie. Going back to where she left her, Stephanie finds only Ellie’s phone, and begins to panic. She calls the local police force, and the hunt for Ellie is on.
If someone guesses the ending of this film based only on the summary, that wouldn’t be surprising. And Soon the Darkness is predictable throughout, with a poorly implemented red herring, and one particularly bad performance.
Odette Yustman is not working with her best script, but even so, her performance in And Soon the Darkness is painful to watch. Yustman does a much more acceptable job in The Unborn, where she is playing a character that seems to fit her personality better: chilled, subdued, and vulnerable. In And Soon the Darkness, Yustman is trying her hardest to play a wild, crazy, sexual being, and this character doesn’t come as naturally to her. To make up for her lack of experience in this type of role Yustman resorts to playing stereotypes and clichés, looking uncomfortable on screen. Further inflating the problem writers Jennifer Derwingson and Marcos Efron make the character of Ellie dislikable. So not only is Yustman fighting against her miscasting but she is also trying to win back the audience, who will most likely be rooting against her by the second act of the film. As an example, in the opening scene, Ellie is shown leaving her friend for a sexual encounter and even hitting on a guy that Stephanie is interested in. These are both terrible character traits, and they leave the audience rooting against Ellie. A poorly written character, mixed with Yustman’s amateurish performance, makes Ellie an awkward and uncomfortable character to watch.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Yustman’s co-star, Amber Heard, is not only beautiful (same as Yustman), but a powerful character that demands attention from the viewer. Heard’s advantage over Yustman isn’t huge, but it is clear: Heard’s Stephanie is written more completely than Yustman’s Ellie. Heard shows a soft side at the beginning of the film, finding success in playing above stereotypes. Her work is not stellar, but she does a nice job, and given a better script, could shine in the future. Karl Urban comes off as the grizzled veteran of the group, and though his character is absolute rubbish, he does a fine job with what he is given. I will be interested to see him in the upcoming Judge Dredd film, Dredd, as the titular character.
Though there are problems with his script, writer and director Marcos Efron manages some beautiful shots, filming on location in Argentina. The stark contrast between a barren, burnt out wooded area, and the beautiful actress Amber Heard is startling and, if nothing deeper, makes for a beautiful picture. The choice not to use subtitles for the Spanish speaking characters is a strong one, too, and one that brings the audience (the non-Spanish speakers in the crowd) closer to the two lead characters; just as the two girls do not know what is going on around them in this foreign country, neither do we, the audience, and that shared experience helps the audience connect with the main characters, if only a little. Efron’s previous works were all in short films, and his first feature length effort shows promise, but ultimately falls short of memorable.
And Soon the Darkness is mostly unremarkable. There is some nice work from Amber Heard, but Odette Yustman and the poor script more than make up for it. Efron appears to have talent as a director, and his cinematographic choices in the film are beautiful and effective. The trouble is that we have seen this underwhelming and predictable story hundreds of times in the past, and And Soon the Darkness stubbornly refuses to take things further, or deeper than any other films. Instead it stays on par which is fine for golf but not in the thriller genre. Nothing in this film keeps the viewer on the edge of his or her seat, but there isn’t enough bad to turn the movie off either. And Soon the Darkness does a sufficient amount to get the viewer’s attention, but then fails to deliver anything special throughout its 91 minute runtime.
Director Marcos Effron takes full advantage of the Argentinean landscape he filmed in, and the Blu-ray looks great, especially on the wide shots over the landscape. There are no visual issues, and this is the only part of this BD release that is above average. This BD comes with a 1080p widescreen presentation, and a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. There were no audio problems either, and the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound does its job. There are English SDH and Spanish subtitle options.
Audio Commentary with Director Marcos Efron, Editor Todd E. Miller, and Director of Photography Gabriel Beristain: These three have a nice chemistry together, and a professional atmosphere is set from the beginning. They give a ton of information from behind-the-scenes, and seem willing to talk about every aspect of the film, from miscellaneous crew to the lead actors. All three are very complimentary to the rest of the cast and crew. The commentary goes through the vast majority of the film, and is pretty standard affair.
Director’s Video Diary (11:12): Director Marcos Efron leads us through, via voiceover, behind-the-scenes footage. This shows actress Amber Heard handing out books and toys to a local Argentinean school, shows how a barn became a bar scene, and how a rainy day can ruin the shooting experience. There is a lot of interesting info jammed into this 11-minute feature.
Deleted Scenes (6:42): These are shot in standard definition. The first scene is one that gives the origin of a bracelet that shows up later in the movie, but the movie worked fine without it. The second scene makes Ellie out to be more of an alcoholic than she appears to be in the film, and adds some mystery to the Michael character. The third scene looks more like a collection of mini filler scenes, and is pointless. The fourth scene adds in yet another pointless character, and extends the police officer/Stephanie scene for no good reason. The final deleted scene shows Stephanie searching for clues where she last sees Ellie, and justifies a later scene in the film, but again, the movie worked fine without it. None of these scenes add much to the movie, and were rightly deleted. In the commentary track, the director makes mention of scenes that were cut which contained conversations between Stephanie and her ex-boyfriend from home. It would have been interesting to see these scenes in the deleted footage, but they didn’t even make it that far.
And Soon the Darkness Trailer (1:51): Do not watch this trailer before seeing the film. This is a perfect example of a trailer that gives too much away. Trailers like these are terribly disappointing to anyone who hates spoilers.
Also on Blu-ray (2:02): This contains one trailer, and it is for another Anchor Bay release that I reviewed entitled Altitude.
With less than 20-minutes of special features (excluding the commentary track), and a perfectly mediocre film, I cannot recommend this BD release. And Soon the Darkness is a great film to add to a Netflix or Blockbuster rental queue, and should be seen on Blu-ray if possible thanks to the beautiful scenery, but it’s hardly a justifiable purchase. With his next film, one hopes that Marcos Efron takes more chances, and delivers something remarkable because he has the talent to do so. And Soon the Darkness plays it safe, and in the direct-to-video, independent market, filmmakers need to be on the top of their game to gain recognition; And Soon the Darkness simply falls short of that mark.
Anchor Bay Films, Abandon Pictures, and Studio Canal presents And Soon the Darkness. Directed by: Marcos Efron. Starring: Amber Heard, Odette Yustman, and Karl Urban. Written by: Jennifer Derwingson, Marcos Efron, Brian Clemens (1970 film And Soon the Darkness) & Terry Nation (1970 film And Soon the Darkness). Running time: 91 minutes. Rating: R. Released on Blu-Ray & DVD: December 28, 2010.
