Directed by:
Liam GavinScreenplay:
Liam GavinCinematography:
Cathal WattersComposer:
Ray HarmanVOD (2)
Plots(1)
Sophia is grief-stricken, overwhelmed with sadness since the untimely death of her young daughter. In a desperate attempt to achieve some form of closure, she reaches out to Solomon, an occultist with experience in an ancient invocation ritual that Sophia believes will allow her to make contact with her deceased child. Locked away in a remote country house, the disparate pair undergo the long and arduous incantation process, risking both their mental and physical safety as they attempt to access a world beyond our understanding. Both an exhaustive and intense study of ceremonial magic, and an affecting exploration of the paralysing nature of grief, Liam Gavin's striking chamber piece defies easy categorisation. In an eye-opening departure from the comic roles for which he is best known, Steve Oram makes for an impressively overbearing occult practitioner, while the superb Catherine Walker provides the film's gut-wrenching emotional backbone as a mother driven to desperate measures. (London Film Festival)
(more)Reviews (2)
Some Irishmen with no budget made an attempt at occult psychology based on two simple characters. The long wait for the ghostly adrenaline rush is filled with their interaction as an incongruous pair who, locked up in a secluded house for several months, gradually get to know each other and slide into frustration to the point of madness. The creative direction is okay, the characters’ behaviour is natural and on the level. Though the film isn’t boring and keeps the viewer curious about what will happen next, the later handling of the psychological motifs that the filmmakers should have highlighted is inadequate, with an unsatisfying and naïve result.
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A Dark Song has more of a horror feel to it than actually being a horror film. Its finale is rather philosophical or even metaphysical, which, I must admit, didn't quite do it for me. Before then there was potential for what could have been a good psychological drama, but that ultimately didn't happen. Still, it's definitely a film that can be watched without doing you any harm.
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