In Darkness

I gave up on this when the blind protagonist, after a murder of her neighbor and someone prowling in her apartment, goes for a walk at night in a rough neighborhood alone. And that's only one example of a script that makes us out to be idiots. Just silly.

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.

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.

Natalie Dormer ("Game of Thrones") is fine as a blind pianist with a tortured past. The script she co-wrote with Director Anthony Byrne is thoughtful and delivers ample twists and turns. And the sound editing amplifying a sightless aural experience is first-rate on behalf of a talented team headed by veteran pro Harald Ansorge.

This established, I came way from "In Darkness" strangely less than satisfied. The pace never felt quite right. At least for me it didn't match the inherent volatility of the story being presented.

And I'm still in the dark as to why.

...it had made sense. The story was too convoluted. None of the three of us ever understood what Alex, Marc and Veronique had to do with any of it, nor why Radic hated Veronique. Plus, the sex scene was completely unnecessary and seemed to be there for Natalie Dormer to show off.