Hold the Dark (2018)

I don't know what I just watched. Maybe there's something deep or artistic but I didn't get it. I'm stunned at how bad it was. I gave it three stars because I liked the wolves.

Fmovies: To say this movie was a disappointment would be an understatement as vast as the Alaskan wilderness it was filmed in.

What is most frustrating is that you are drawn into waiting for some kind of twist or at least some action to bring your attention back, but nothing actually happens. After watching the film it's still unclear what the plot is, and after looking at some reviews I'm relieved I'm not the only one.

Anybody who's scored this over a 5 either appreciates the cinematic values of the movie, or spends their spare time watching paint dry.

Beautiful cinematography, no plot, no resolution. Half way through I was hoping everyone would shoot each other and put me out of my misery.

Hold the Dark fmovies. This was a fantastic film. The acting was solid, stoic, and appropriate for the subject matter. The cinematography was absolutely stunning; leave it to Saulnier to remind us just how red blood really is against the snow.

The story itself was bleak. Bleak doesn't mean boring. On the contrary, this film is a commentary on the darkness in human nature.

Yes the ending is ambiguous, yes it is a slow burn, and yes the subject matter is bleak. I believe these three things only constitute a bad film in the eyes of someone whose idea of perfect cinema is superhero movies.

I cannot state this loudly enough: unfortunately, IMDb reviews no longer reflect the quality of a film. I understand this film is not for everyone; however, the amount of reviews stating "this didn't make sense" is abysmal.

All the parts are there, good acting, engaging characters, great nature scenes, and a great story that ended up being a little too cryptic. The movie held my attention because I didn't want to miss anything that would confirm what I thought the film would be about. But it never did. My suspicions is that the answers were left on the cutting room floor when the film was edited.

This feels like one of those movies that you have to read the book first to understand what's going on or at least have someone who has read the book sitting next to you to explain what was going on and what all those little details meant.

Let me start by saying that this movie is not completely garbage. It has something to it that keeps you going. For some reason, despite an unintelligible plot and amazingly slow pace, you still find yourself watching the movie waiting for it to redeem itself. It doesn't. The more time you invest in this adventure, the more painful it becomes to admit that this movie is beyond redemption, that nothing normal is going to happen and that you wasted two hours of your life.