Super Dark Times
2017 · Directed by Kevin Phillips
Original language: English
- drama
- thriller
The story
Teenagers Zach and Josh have been best friends their whole lives, but when a gruesome accident leads to a cover-up, the secret drives a wedge between them and propels them down a rabbit hole of escalating paranoia and violence.
What it’s like
Washed-out suburban daylight and dim, lamp-lit bedrooms give this film a grey, uneasy sheen, with the palette drifting toward cold blues and sickly yellows as the night gets longer. Kevin Phillips frames his teenagers in tight, watchful compositions, often holding on empty hallways, cluttered basements and silent houses after the characters have left, so the spaces feel like they are waiting for something. The score is sparse and tense, built on low drones and prickling electronic pulses that swell into jolts, and the quiet between them is often more unnerving than the noise. Its vibe is slow-burn paranoia with a restless, sleepless edge, best suited to a late night alone when you want something that keeps you alert. The pacing is deliberate at first and then accelerates into a spiral, following two boyhood friends whose bond curdles into suspicion and fear. The intensity is high: brutal, sudden violence, graphic bloody injury, and a constant undercurrent of dread and cruelty that lands hard rather than lingering as gore. This is not gentle viewing. It suits viewers who enjoy coming-of-age dramas that turn into thrillers and can tolerate disturbing, unsettling material.
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