We deal with a lot of the bigger budget movies here on the Last Movie Outpost. That’s a shame because we can overlook some pearls out there, like Dark Night of the Soul. So put away your movie snobbery and outside of the Hollywood bubble for something original.
We got sent a screener recently, saying it starred Kristana Loken and Martin Kove. I thought I would check it out while at work and found myself not working and watching it.
Dark Night of the Soul stars Loken, Kove, Jesse Kove, Paola Paulin, Tom Malloy, Courtney Warner, Gabrielle Kalomiris and Sophia VanDette. S. J. Creazzo is the writer/director.
The Story
Set in the middle of a global pandemic, a lone scientist holds the key to the cure. On her way to tell anyone, she’s in a car accident. The official plot is:
A brilliant scientist gets trapped in her car after a terrible crash. Isolated, struggling to survive, she holds the key to cure a pandemic ravaging the world.
Alex (Loken) is in a car accident and her leg gets caught under it. As she tries to free herself, the blood loss causes her to hallucinate. These come in the form of conversations she never had with her father or sister.
She also sees her dead daughter but in the guise of a superhero warrior. She also believes that she talks to god, but she sees god in the form of a small dog. You never know what is real or what she’s imagining.
As she faces the ‘dark night of the soul’, her own death, she has to come to terms with what might happen. If she dies, the world could be in danger.
The Cast
OK, so I had the chance to interview Loken so maybe this altered my opinion a little, but this was a good movie. Loken is someone who gives a lot to each role she does. Just because this movie didn’t have a huge budget, doesn’t mean she’s really good in it.
There are moments when she is trying to free her leg and it makes me wince. She spends a lot of the movie by herself and has to carry the plot along.
You can’t beat seeing Kove in anything. He’s had a resurgence of late with Cobra Kai, where is plays the bad guy well, but here, he’s, well, nice. He plays Alex’s father, in her ‘conversations that could have happened’ phases.
The Dark Night
The expression ‘dark night of the soul’ is from a Spanish poem from the 16th century. It’s connected with the purification of the soul, usually before one’s death. I can’t say I’ve had a near-death experience, well, my wedding day was close. There are many accounts of what people see, how they feel or the whole ‘life flashing before your eyes’.
In this movie, it was interesting to see that Alex was pretty sure she was facing death. She was fighting to survive, the fate of the world was in her hands. If she goes, she can leave a legacy that could save everyone. If she survives, she can see all her hard work paying off.
Overall
As I said, this is an indie movie and it does show. There isn’t a lot of money here, but that doesn’t take away how well-made it is. The cast is all very good, the direction is on point, the story is interesting…I liked it.
As I said, my opinion was swayed a little by the prospect of interviewing Loken. However, watching it, I was engrossed in the story. The interview, which took place after I had seen it, only opened it up more for me a little.
I doubt this will be overlooked by a lot of people, but that’s a shame. I like seeing low-budget movies with good stories. Most of the time, they are a damn sight better than the garbage Hollywood is churning out at the moment. Something like Dark Night of the Soul doesn’t have a big budget, but it has much more heart than bigger-budget movies.
Dark Night of the Soul is now on VOD and I would recommend it and you all know what a picky sod I am. It’s an interesting movie that makes you think at the end of it. How would you cope in the same situation? I’d have cut my leg off and saved 50% on shoes.
Seriously though, Dark Night of the Soul is an interesting movie and worth a visit.
