The Dark and the Wicked: Movie Review
Happy Monday, everyone! Things have been crazy busy for me. Not only am I working on art for my Threadless shop, but I am also making new and unique content for my Patreon -- not to mention writing a novel (two novels, three? Why can't I make up my mind?).
Of course, you can check out a lot of those things here:
Patreon page: Here you can gain access to some exclusive videos, sneak peeks, and more!
Threadless shop: I am now selling my macabre prints, available on shirts, hoodies, mugs, magnets, and more!
Buy Me a Coffee page: Here’s a way to send me a tip and a little note, if you’re so inclined!
"How much energy can one person have?" I hear you asking across the void. It depends on how much coffee and tea I've had, I suppose. With that in mind and with my third cup in hand, let's head on to the review! Heads up: there are some minor spoilers so you have been warned!
The Movie
The Dark and the Wicked is a 2020 American horror film written and directed by Bryan Bertino, which premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival in August, 2020. It stars Marin Ireland, Michael Abbott Jr., and Xander Berkeley.
The movie is about two siblings, Michael and Louise, who have returned to the family farm because their father is on his deathbed. Their mother is distant and acts erratically, telling them they should leave but not explaining why. This leads to —
[SPOILER ALERT]
— the mother hanging herself in the barn after chopping her fingers off.
The siblings are shocked and confused as to why their mother would kill herself. They then begin finding clues, in the form of a diary and their father's nurse confessing that she heard their mom talking to some presence in the house. Things escalate as the siblings begin to experience the same symptoms their mom did as the movie accelerates to a chilling conclusion.
The Review
The movie starts off slow, building a strange and ominous atmosphere which starts with the setting itself: an empty, isolated farm haunted by the bleating of goats and deep winds. After the mother's suicide, the pacing picks up as the "curse" the mother had seems to pass onto the siblings. Suddenly, what started out as a woman's madness translates into something supernatural, something sinister.
For me, this movie had just the right mixture of psychological and supernatural horror to keep me glued to the screen. It is a slow burn, especially the first two-thirds, but had enough suspense and jump scares to keep things spooky.
The film is also threaded with the themes of guilt and grief, which are experienced by the siblings as they try and navigate the horrors on the farm, giving the film more depth.
This movie will definitely be a good watch for fellow fans of The VVitch and Hereditary, as it has a similar feel to it. Overall, it was a great movie and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
8/10
x P.L. McMillan