Hold the Dark
Directed by Jeremy Saulnier
- thriller
- mystery
- crime
The story
In the grim Alaskan winter, a naturalist hunts for wolves blamed for killing a local boy, but he soon finds himself swept into a chilling mystery.
What it’s like
Bleak, snow-choked wide shots and a washed-out palette of grey sky, white ground and dark spruce give this film a cold, almost colourless look, with interiors lit by sickly lamps and the flat blue of a motel room at night. Director Jeremy Saulnier favours slow, watchful framing and long stretches where the camera simply holds on empty tundra, so the silence of the landscape does much of the work, broken by wind, gunfire and the crunch of boots on ice. Its vibe is grim, austere and unsettled, a sort of frozen unease that suits a late, lonely night or a dark winter evening when you want something heavy and unhurried. The pacing is deliberate and the emotional register stays low and mournful; its central figures are worn-down men slowly confronting what they have done and what the wilderness has concealed. Violence is present and sudden rather than constant: there are shootouts and at least one brutal, bloody death, along with dread and some grim imagery of a child's loss, but little gore for its own sake. It is best for viewers who enjoy patient, morally murky crime thrillers and who don't mind an ending that stays cold.
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