I've never been overly fond of "art house" movies. I've watched more than my fair share and while I ardently admire certain such qualities in commercial films, particularly in areas such as cinematography and atmosphere, other attributes tend not to blend as well with mass market fare.
Such is the case with Netflix's Hold the Dark, the adaptation of William Giraldi's novel of the same title.
Atmosphere and beautiful cinematography are two of this film's strong points, however Director Jeremy Saulnier and screenwriter Macon Blair's approach to the murder mystery narrative leaves a lot to be desired. In this regard their artsy approach of "let's leave things open to audience interpretation" completely undermines what should have been a crackerjack entry in the mystery genre. Using the magnificent scenery of Alaska as a backdrop, it tells a completely disjointed story of a wildlife naturalist and author (Jeffrey Wright of Westworld and Casino Royale fame) who responds to a written request from a woman in a remote village whose son was the most recent of three children carried away by a pack of wolves to track down and kill the pack.
From there the film sidetracks to Iraq, and then back to Alaska. I won't give too much away, suffice to say up to this point things fairly make sense. It's only when the woman's husband returns home from his deployment that things go squirrely and fast.
Suffice to say that the wolf hunt is jettisoned in favor of a more intriguing premise, but that, in turn is sabotaged by a several WTF moments in the script. After viewing I had no problem inserting various interpretations for events, and the motivations of key characters, but it left me feeling the screenwriter and director were just being lazy and letting the viewer do their job, rather than tell a sound story. If I wanted mysticism I'd read a book by Carlos Castaneda, not turn to Netflix.
There's a lot to like here, but in the end you will probably feel like you've been cheated when it counted most. Watch for yourself and decide.
Such is the case with Netflix's Hold the Dark, the adaptation of William Giraldi's novel of the same title.
Atmosphere and beautiful cinematography are two of this film's strong points, however Director Jeremy Saulnier and screenwriter Macon Blair's approach to the murder mystery narrative leaves a lot to be desired. In this regard their artsy approach of "let's leave things open to audience interpretation" completely undermines what should have been a crackerjack entry in the mystery genre. Using the magnificent scenery of Alaska as a backdrop, it tells a completely disjointed story of a wildlife naturalist and author (Jeffrey Wright of Westworld and Casino Royale fame) who responds to a written request from a woman in a remote village whose son was the most recent of three children carried away by a pack of wolves to track down and kill the pack.
From there the film sidetracks to Iraq, and then back to Alaska. I won't give too much away, suffice to say up to this point things fairly make sense. It's only when the woman's husband returns home from his deployment that things go squirrely and fast.
Suffice to say that the wolf hunt is jettisoned in favor of a more intriguing premise, but that, in turn is sabotaged by a several WTF moments in the script. After viewing I had no problem inserting various interpretations for events, and the motivations of key characters, but it left me feeling the screenwriter and director were just being lazy and letting the viewer do their job, rather than tell a sound story. If I wanted mysticism I'd read a book by Carlos Castaneda, not turn to Netflix.
There's a lot to like here, but in the end you will probably feel like you've been cheated when it counted most. Watch for yourself and decide.