Hold the Dark is a Netflix exclusive and the newest film and fourth feature from Jeremy Saulnier, who’s currently one of the best up and coming directors out there. His first feature was 2007’s Murder Party, but he gained a lot more respect in 2013 with the tense thriller Blue Ruin. His third film Green Room was even better than Blue Ruin and got a 90% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
I still haven’t seen Murder Party, but I loved Blue Ruin and Green Room, so I was highly anticipating Hold the Dark. Like Saulnier’s previous two efforts this is a violent thriller full of dread. It’s a slight step down from Green Room, but about as good as Blue Ruin. It just doesn’t quite have that same intensity as Green Room that kept you riveted throughout. Hold the Dark has some gore, but isn’t as brutal as Green Room was. However, it is a much more philosophical and ambiguous film than Saulnier’s prior work.
I won’t give away much of the plot as it’s very difficult to describe without spoilers. It begins with a wildlife expert and author being contacted by a woman who says her son was abducted by wolves. It’s a little hard to tell where it’s going at first, and I think this worked. The plot isn’t super complicated, but there are some interesting twists. I recommend watching this knowing as little as possible.
Hold the Dark is leisurely paced and over two hours but I never found it boring. The slow build up increases tension and the impact of the sudden violence, which is a trademark of Jeremy Saulnier, who proves yet again he’s great at creating atmosphere.
The cinematography is good but doesn’t bring attention to itself. There are slightly long takes,
but nothing too crazy. The film is set in the Alaskan wilderness are there are certainly plenty of beautiful shots of the scenery. The wide nature shots drive home the isolation of these small towns.
This is the first Saulnier film that he didn’t write the script for, and it’s not quite as tightly written as the ones he penned. The dialogue is at times cryptic or unnatural, but this fit the feel of Hold the Dark, so this wasn’t a huge negative.
The characters are fine but we don’t really get to explore too deep into any of them to care much what happens to them. The main character, played by Jeffrey Wright, is mostly passive, but I know by now not to expect a traditional protagonist from a Saulnier film. The performances are all good and pretty subtle and there’s definitely no overacting, but none of them will blow you away.
The ending wasn’t that satisfying, especially compared to the director’s earlier films.
While Hold the Dark is certainly a solid film, I don’t anticipate it ending up among my favorites of 2018. But since you don’t have to leave the house or pay any extra money if you already have Netflix, I highly recommend giving this a chance. And unless I’m forgetting something, this might just be favorite Netflix original film so far.
Right now Hold the Dark has a decent Rotten Tomatoes score of 73% and a 64 on Metacritic.
