Dark Places (2015)

Pretty Good

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

I don't know if this movie had potential or not. It could have used a better writer I can tell you that. It was all over the place and so pointless and insane. Theron was so manly looking in here that it was hard to watch her. I think the dark places was titled appropriately because the movie was in a lot of dark places plot-wise.

I just read the book and decided to watch the movie, thinking that with this strong compelling story the film would be great. Wrong. It was so flat and boring it made me forget how good the story really was. I didn't have any problem with the casting (especially with young Ben Day, I think he was really good) but the whole tone of the film was stiff and had me saying "whatever...". The music wasn't good, the characters were so one dimensional and what really bugged me was the flashback scenes and the fact that there was no other suspects. In the book you keep changing your mind about who's the killer every chapter but in the movie it's pretty clear from the start. The flashbacks did not portray what was really going on, so when we slowly uncover the truth we do not really care... Even the scene of the murders were plain and boring. I don't understand how could someone take this story and turn it into this. So disappointed. I know that in order to make a movie you have to cut a lot of things out of a book, but it feels like it lost its great character, their emotions and the mood. Finally I forgot to mention that the casting for today's Ben Day character was so wrong.

Lets make clear that I am not aware of the book that this film was based on, so I am not gonna review the movie all about the book. I am not even sure if it is important if the movie was based on the book exactly the same in every detail. From my point of view, this movie has no flaw. Everything was sticking together very good. The plot was terrific, always on edge, characters and story very well put together, and if I could characterize this film with one word, this would be SUSPENSE. I stopped the movie some times to calm down, I was blown away from the rising tension and in the climax scenes always on the edge of my seat. This film blends together so many elements about the history of this era in Kansas city and in America in general, when development of satanic rituals among teenagers had shocked the news and society. Also, when criminal rates are high enough to let their footprint and create a bloodstained and "dark place" in the citizen's hearts. The unsolved mystery murders of this movie is a riddle that unfolds throughout the whole movie, with exquisite use of flashbacks, sound effects and irresolute but determining character development. For me this movie is undoubtedly 10/10. It is powerful, enigmatic and stunning in a way that will make you think of it some time. After all, this movie is important for one main reason. Its twist will never let you guess what happens, only when you finish the movie, you can finally find redemption through Libby's eyes when she visits for a last time her family home and gets free forever. This is a happy end, without fake drama. It is life itself and even if it had spoken lies in the end rises the truth.

A few years ago, Gillian Flynn's novel "Gone Girl" was turned into a film that received Academy Award consideration. While I won't go so far as to say that "Dark Places" is quite as good as that one, there must have been something going on behind the scenes in the production that really hampered its marketing. It doesn't nearly deserve the terrible reputation it is receiving right now.For a basic plot summary, "Dark Places" tells the story of Libby Day (Charlize Theron), a woman still haunted by the memory of a childhood incident in which her brother murdered the rest of the family...or did he? Down to her last dollar and no longer able to exploit public sympathy, Libby hooks on with a group of murder investigators/enthusiasts led by Lyle Wirth (Nicholas Hoult), who pay her to re-examine that infamous past night. The lead-up to the massacre is told in flash-backs, featuring Ben Day (Tye Sheridan & Corey Stoll) as the supposed killer and mother Patty (Christine Hendricks) as the mother hanging on by a thread. What really happened that night? That won't be determined until the final memories begin falling into place.To me, "Dark Places" matches up pretty favorably with "Gone Girl" (I actually liked this one even better as a book than I did "Gone Girl"). They both have a pretty respectable cast (even Chloe Moretz has a key role in this), they both feature a psychological thriller/mystery at the heart of the narrative, and both are thoroughly entertaining from beginning to end.So, why did "Gone Girl" soar while "Dark Places" puttered out? There seemed to be very little advertising for "Dark Places", it premiered in very few theaters, and came to home video right away. There is also a sense (while watching the film) that the production value isn't quite as good as maybe it could be. Not overly detrimentally to the experience, by any means, but also not quite as polished as "Gone Girl". It felt a little bit cobbled together and stunted when it could have been just as great and nuanced as its Flynn-inspired predecessor.Overall, though, "Dark Places" is a pretty solid movie that (for whatever reason) gained such a bad reputation that it flopped early and often. If you enjoyed the book, though, I think you will like this one just as much. Don't be scared away by a few bad reviews and some terrible score markings on other websites...it isn't nearly that bad!! Had some of the kinks been worked out of it, it could have been a lot more well-received.