DARK NIGHT (2016)

Dark Night (2016)
Directed by: Tim Sutton
Written by: Tim Sutton
Starring: Anna Rose Hopkins, Eddie Cacciola, Shawn Cacciola

Six strangers’ lives cross when one night they decide to head to the cinema for a midnight screening.

Inspired by the tragic events in Colorado that saw James Holmes openfire on cinema goers attending the midnight screening of Batman movie The Dark Knight, DARK NIGHT fancies itself as some sort of mirror acting as to the reality of such an event, in terms of the victims and their lives. However, the resulting effort is a senseless collection of pointless, ‘artisticly shot’ scenes set up to create an attempt of modern arthouse cinema.

Throughout the film we meet a variety of characters who’s names we never discover and who’s lives are simply the snapshot as shown on screen. There’s the girl who likes to work out and look good for her selfie obsession, the Eminem-lookalike who skateboards with his friend/little brother (?), the 12 year old kid who hits the bong with his mates, and so on. Scenes with these individuals attempts to show that these people have lives but the way it is shot, no matter how pretty the HD visual is, is that these people have no personality and their lives are mundane, isolated and depressing as hell. In reality, how someone lives their life is up to them and no-one has a right to take another person’s life. However, for a movie or dramatisation, which is essentially meant to inform or entertain, there should be some personality behind it – some life – to at least hit home the impact of what a shooting like that does. Instead of showing the lives, loves, personality and enjoyment of these individuals, we’re left with a series of people who appear shallow with no aim, no goals and no life to start off with. As wrong as it sounds to say it, it’s like the film was implying they were doing the people a favour at the finale of the movie by ending it all as these people portrayed had no hope in life. That’s how it feels and it’s disgusting and disrespectful to all those victims and people hurt by such a wicked attack in real life.

This is supposedly not about the actual event itself but a similar, copycat event, one that seemingly happens in the wake of Holmes’ attack. News reports of Holmes’ arrest and court details appear on the television screens at the beginning of the movie with the characters vaguely interested if at all. Then all that connection seems to fly out the window as the viewer is forced to sit through a dull, expressionless effort of filmmaking until the credits roll (thank God for credits). We do meet the killer of the piece though who seems to be channeling a bit of Holmes, if only in hairstyle, as he walks his dog, tries on Halloween masks and goes all screamy and vomits in his car. Like I said, this film makes little sense and made me want to reach for the remote to turn it off but, as a glutton for punishment, I saw it through to the end.

I have nothing good to say about this film. It seems like a distasteful cash-in of a horrific incident which has scarred a community forever with families who’ve lost their loved ones from one person’s senseless, selfish, despicable actions. This “arty” take on the attack is just pointless and insulting and thank God I didn’t spend anything to watch this movie and if you know what’s good for you, neither should you.

Rating: