The Dark and the Wicked (2020)

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Day 117 of sobriety.

The Dark and the Wicked was directed by Bryan Bertino, who has directed a number of well-regarded horror films, including his debut The Strangers (2008). He has also produced several, including Osgood Perkins' The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015). The Dark and the Wicked is his latest film as a director, and, at present, the only one I have seen.

 

The story is about an adult brother and sister who return to their familial farm due to the impending death of their comatose father, Upon arrival they begin to feel that an evil presence is encroaching on the family.

 

Before I sat down to watch The Dark and the Wicked, I had a suspicion that I might have already seen it. I watched the trailer and still wasn’t sure, so I decided to go ahead and watch the movie itself. I spent most of the film’s run-time still trying to figure out if I had already seen it. It was only later on in the evening, well after the end of the film, that I came to the conclusion that I had. The fact that I managed to watch the entire movie without figuring out if I'd seen it or not is an indication of the film’s biggest problem.

 

It was only released in 2020, so that means I must have seen it fairly recently—in the last couple of years or so—but I still couldn’t remember anything about the plot. Now, I was doubtless drinking the last time I saw it, and quite possibly to the point of being drunk, so I have to accept some part of the responsibility for my lack of memory. However, I'm pretty sure that one other reason I couldn’t remember the plot is because there isn’t really much of a plot to remember.

 

The film is very nicely shot and establishes a very effective spooky, gloomy atmosphere. After establishing the basic premise, it proceeds through a series of excellent chilling set pieces that practically had me cowering behind the sofa. It does these things exceptionally well. And then it ends.

 

The plot just isn’t developed well enough for it to fulfill the promise of the sustained bleak atmosphere of impending dread that is maintained throughout, and we never really get to know and understand the characters on a deep enough level either. I felt that those aspects really let the film down.

 

The very end of the film is particularly unsatisfying. Although, I have to say—it at least doesn’t end with a dumb-ass “boss battle” type of ending, like so many modern horror films, so it deserves at least some credit for that.

 

I did enjoy it, and the good elements—the photography and evocation of atmosphere—are easily good enough that I am still eager to see the director’s other films, but I was left feeling a bit empty and unmoved afterwards. I’m really hoping that his other films have a bit more plot and character development.


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