Out of Darkness

Horror often has a problem with characters’ annoyingly faulty decision-making; here, their hierarchy of needs, with food and shelter to the fore, makes self-endangering choices more than believable.

The difference here is in the attention to paleolithic detail and the emotional sincerity that the film-makers, including the debut director Andrew Cumming and the debut feature writer Ruth Greenberg, bring to the material.

Atmospheric and chilling, Out Of Darkness doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but adds some thoughtful twists to a well-worn genre.

This first work by British director, Andrew Cumming, counts for a sufficient dose of originality and talent, transforming into a necessary visionary work for lovers of the genre. [Full review in Spanish]

It left me in awe of the survival instinct: how on earth did humans make it through those cold, bloody old times? I’d hurl myself into the nearest loch.

It moves along pretty good... There's a twist that I thought was sort of interesting.

The beauty of its lushes Scottish landscape works to lure in its audience, only to flip a switch and use that same setting as the source for terror.

"All of it's pieces are simple, just like the basic concept is simple, but they're all executed in really complex ways."

It’s tempting to label prehistoric stories like Out of Darkness gimmickry, but Cumming mostly cuts through the wow-that’s-authentic components of his film – and by that token, the temptation to find flaws in them – with big ideas.

Andrew Cumming’s film is about the enduring poison of patriarchy, as well as the human tendency to fear—and destroy—what we don’t know or understand.