This time Art reviews Lights Out
Two great scary premises put together. You got fear of the dark in my childhood trauma! You got parental abuse in my ghost story! Wow, they taste great together!
Kiddos, this is the type of movie Art likes. I got honest to goodness goosebumps. Let’s think about why. Well, young actor Gabriel Bateman acquits himself well in a demanding role. I’m always a bit suspect of child actors in these types of roles but I’ll just accept this at face value and assume it was a positive experience. Then there was the actor Teresa Palmer who I actually thought was Kristin Stewart for most of the movie. She’s fine in the role. And old half lunk half moral anchor Alexander DiPersia as boyfriend Bret. His name alone conveys the entire character.
This movie understands what its strength is and leverages it. The dark is scary. Scary things, ergo, are in the dark. Makes sense to me! The flicking on and off of lights is pretty well done here even when you knew 10 minutes ago what the scene was going to be.
So we come to the brass tack and it’s generational trauma manifest. Even if it’s a dumb ghosty in the end I still think that can be resonant. There are lots of different versions of this stuff in movies and in this one we have the learned abuse of a mentally ill mother.
I remarked to my partner how the need to keep going back to “save mom” was exactly what abused kids do. Normally we don’t fight a shadow monster but something infinitely worse: ourselves.
Anyhoo, I highly recommend this one. It’s a well paced tale with nice scary beats. The story/narrative bits to me weren’t a lul and really enhanced the story. It’s also the rare film where I thought the youth actor was fit for the role.
You don’t need to have childhood trauma to appreciate it, but it would likely enhance the experience. So go have a shot of PTSD on your pal Art.