IN DARKNESS (2018)

Studio:       Vertical Entertainment
Director:    Anthony Byrne
Writer:       Anthony Byrne, Natalie Dormer
Producer:  Anthony Byrne, Natalie Dormer, Ben Pugh, Adam Morane-Griffiths, Josh Varney
Stars:     Natalie Dormer, Ed Skrein, Emily Ratajkowski, Neil Maskell, Jan Bijvoet, James Cosmo, Joely Richardson

Review Score:

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Summary:

A blind pianist becomes caught in a web of political intrigue after her upstairs neighbor is mysteriously murdered.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

Blind pianist Sofia repeatedly suffers from flashback nightmares of her parents and sister being murdered by men commanded by Serbian war criminal Zoran Radic. Rescued by soldier Niall McKendrick as a child, Sofia now plots to get close enough to kill Radic by continuing to clandestinely befriend his daughter Veronique, who lives in the apartment upstairs from Sofia.

Sofia and Veronique discuss Sofia’s upcoming performance at Radic’s charity benefit. The following day, Sofia slips on Veronique’s scarf in the lobby. Entranced by Veronique’s unique scent, Sofia keeps the scarf.

Inside her mailbox, Sofia retrieves a vial of poison left by Niall. Sofia reads and then burns the accompanying card written in Braille.

A man named Marc chases Veronique into the elevator with Sofia, although Sofia remains seemingly unaware of Marc’s presence. Sofia mentions the dropped scarf. Veronique comes close to Sofia and says, “please look after it for me.” Veronique adds, “my secret scent is liquid gold.”

Shortly after parting ways, Sofia hears a commotion in Veronique’s apartment. Veronique suddenly falls to her death.

Deputy Inspector Oscar Mills interviews Sofia about Veronique’s death. Sofia denies hearing anything or even knowing Veronique.

Marc meets with his older sister Alex, Radic’s personal aide who was secretly plotting against Radic with Veronique. Marc reports that he was unable to find the USB thumb drive he was looking for and that he believes the other woman in the elevator saw him. Alex instructs Marc to kill Sofia.

Despite the coroner’s assertion of suicide, Mills suspects foul play in Veronique’s death. Mills also learns from the autopsy that Veronique was three months pregnant. While sneaking around the morgue for information, Marc recovers Veronique’s sonogram.

Marc infiltrates Sofia’s apartment to shoot her. Sofia senses his presence, but Marc leaves when he realizes Sofia is blind.

At Radic’s benefit reception, Marc confronts his sister about her having him kill Veronique even though Alex knew she was pregnant with Marc’s child. Alex reminds Marc that Radic ordered his own daughter’s death.

After her piano performance, Radic has a private conversation with Sofia. Sofia uses an interruption from Alex to try poisoning Radic’s drink, but drops Niall’s vial on the ground.

Marc follows Sofia home. Marc rescues Sofia from an attack by a gang of street thugs. Over coffee afterward, Sofia talks about her neighbor with Marc, unaware that he was Veronique’s lover.

Following another flashback, Sofia realizes that Veronique’s cryptic last words were not in reference to her dropped scarf. Sofia discovers that Veronique slipped the USB thumb drive into her coat pocket. Marc observes from a distance as Mills pays Sofia another visit.

Sofia meets with Niall to pass him the USB. Sofia tells Niall that the password is “liquid gold.” Niall warns that Sofia must leave London before Mills discovers her true identity. Sofia insists that she will find another opportunity to kill Radic by using the USB to bait whomever is following her.

A van of mercenaries abducts Sofia when she is alone. Demanding to know where the USB is, the men begin breaking Sofia’s fingers. Marc disables the van, rescues Sofia, and escorts her through a fray by fighting more mercenaries. Marc tells Sofia he knows she has the USB. Sofia tells Marc she knows he killed Veronique. Before disappearing into a crowd, Marc claims he is trying to help Sofia.

Niall returns the USB to Sofia in the hospital. Niall explains that the USB contains all of the data necessary to take over Radic’s assets and operations, confirming that Veronique was conspiring to take down her father. Niall also tells Sofia that while Veronique was “Gold,” she was working with a partner codenamed “Silver.” If Sofia can locate the partner, she may be able to get close to Radic again.

Niall leaves the hospital when Mills arrives. However, Mills retrieves a cup left by Niall that Mills later uses to identify his fingerprints. Sofia feigns sleep, forcing Mills to leave.

Sofia sneaks out of the hospital. Sofia returns home to find her apartment ransacked.

Sofia arranges to meet Marc in Veronique’s apartment. Marc admits that he was sent to kill Veronique, but claims he came to help her, and did not know she was pregnant with his child. Marc additionally claims Veronique really did commit suicide.

Sofia and Marc have sex. Afterward, Sofia tells Marc her true identity and reveals her desire to take revenge against Radic. Through Marc, Sofia arranges a meeting with Marc’s sister.

Sofia meets Alex in an art museum. Sofia exchanges the USB for a photograph of her family, indicating that each woman possesses something with which to blackmail the other with Radic. Sofia compels Alex to get her close to Radic at Veronique’s funeral.

Following the funeral, Sofia takes a private car ride with Radic. Sofia tries stabbing Radic in his throat, but he stops her, revealing that Alex told him of Sofia’s true identity. Radic confesses that he raped Sofia’s mother, making him Sofia’s real father. Radic adds that he raped Sofia’s mother again when her family was killed.

Radic forces Sofia to put the knife back to his throat, but she is unable to kill him. Sofia reveals that Alex was working with Veronique to betray Radic. Radic kicks Sofia out of his car.

Sofia goes to see Mills, but he isn’t at the station. Sofia calls Niall, but discovers he died from a longstanding illness.

Mills tracks down Sofia. Mills tells Sofia that he discovered she took the identity of Niall’s dead daughter Sofia McKendrick. Mills admits he has no evidence, but tells Sofia he suspects Radic wronged her real family and she is out for revenge.

Alex goes to see Radic. Radic indicates that he knows Alex betrayed him. Realizing she is a dead woman, Alex turns to her brother for help escaping the city. Because she didn’t tell him about Veronique’s pregnancy, Marc refuses his sister’s request. A gunman later executes Alex in a car.

Realizing Sofia is now endangered, Marc races to her apartment. Mills also connects the dots and races there too.

Radic confronts Sofia in Veronique’s apartment. Sofia and Radic have a violent physical fight that culminates with Radic preparing to strangle Sofia. Marc fights his way through Radic’s men in time to push Radic through Veronique’s window. Radic is impaled on metal fence posts outside.

Sofia reveals she isn’t actually blind when she sees Marc bleeding and moves to treat his fatal wound. Marc realizes that Sofia saw him in the elevator and knew he had been following her all along. Sofia ties Veronique’s scarf around Marc’s eyes and flees the apartment. Mills arrives to find Marc dead.

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Review:

Natalie Dormer fronts “In Darkness” as Sofia, a blind pianist, precisely the adjective-noun combination for a protagonist typifying the Hitchcockian seed from which initial suspense sprouts.  Staying in step with Sir Alfred fashion, Sofia becomes the only uninvolved “witness” to the death of her upstairs neighbor Veronique, an alluringly exotic beauty whose fall from a window may not be the suicide the coroner suspects.

Sofia didn’t see anything of course.  She did hear a commotion involving mystery man Marc prior to Veronique’s plunge, though that’s a detail Sofia deliberately keeps from Deputy Inspector Mills, whose investigative instincts detect he has a dead body and a live player caught in an intangibly intricate web.

Sofia doesn’t continue toppling the same dominoes as Cary Grant or Jimmy Stewart.  Basic background built, “In Darkness” deviates from the seeming setup of “wrong place, wrong time” murder mystery to detour into Jason Bourne-like intrigue centered on spycraft and political conspiracies.

Not only was Veronique pregnant when she died, she was the daughter of Serbian war criminal Zoran Radic, whose asylum status has caused a stir in London.  Veronique didn’t hold a monopoly on hiding secrets. From poison vials to Braille messages burned after reading, Sofia appears involved in skullduggery of her own.  As threads thicken with twisty revelations, it comes out that Sofia and Veronique shared more of a connection than an apartment building.  And nothing happens by accident whenever Radic’s trusted aide, her duplicitous brother, and a former soldier from Sofia’s past are involved.

Challenged to describe “In Darkness” in one word, that word would be “overdramatic.” A pastel purple glow provides the light while venetian blinds supply the shadows for a sex scene straight out of a Zalman King fever dream.  When Sofia showers, she strikes contemplative poses as water cascades across each expository scar and tattoo in slow motion, all while juxtaposed with cuts from Veronique’s similarly revealing autopsy.

Director Anthony Byrne, who co-wrote and co-produced with star Natalie Dormer, stages setups with predictable 007-Lite panache.  Of course Sofia holds clandestine meetings on a public park bench with each participant at arm’s length and facing the same direction.  Of course the key item creating commotion is a stolen USB drive containing MacGuffin data capable of deposing a dictatorial regime.  And of course Sofia’s confrontation with a key antagonist takes place in an art museum.  How else would the audience be treated to a villainous monologue fawning over a painting painfully metaphoric about the movie’s theme?

Operatic dramatics eventually take their toll by turning a once-simple premise into a plot too preposterous for its own good.  The movie’s 100 minutes feature enough secret identities, unknown agendas, backstabbing, abductions, torture, and left field reveals to fuel a full season of “24.”  The bounds of the film’s fantasy bend so far that it wouldn’t be any less believable if Dr. Frankenstein turned out to be Veronique’s true father and Sofia was her undead twin.

No one stays more fascinated with the script than the movie itself.  As consumed with over-layering its story as “In Darkness” becomes, there’s no denying that Byrne’s cinematically confident style overpowers practical implausibility.  Or perhaps “In Darkness” merely takes elements so far over the top that they come back around to settle in a spot where one cannot determine how much distance was really covered.

Occasionally ostentatious, yet beauteous in their starkness, camera setups are colorful, wide open, and sharply framed.  This isn’t cinematography predetermined to win awards for capturing lush landscapes, serene sunsets, or snowy mountainsides.  This is straight professional craftsmanship, and the first of several departments clicking on highly workable wavelengths.

Dormer’s dogged determination creates a complete character out of a first act introduction and a third act motivation.  Joely Richardson similarly shapes something vaguely interesting out of an anonymous archetype using a fraction of her experience to power her performance. “In Darkness” doesn’t come any closer to forcibly turning Ed Skrein, who plays vanilla villains like Sam Worthington plays humdrum heroes, into a name that audiences are actually interested in. But James Cosmo and Neil Maskell pick up some of Skrein’s slack in strong, albeit limited, roles on the support side.

Muscling through on the appeal of its actors, action, and stalwart sense of structure, “In Darkness” emerges from its overwrought, overwritten funnel as a visually juicy bite of overdramatic intrigue.  Under any light of logic, the movie melts like a wicked witch in a rainstorm.  The aforementioned Bournes and Bonds have no need to worry, though “In Darkness” maintains a mystery that can momentarily satisfy as arbitrary entertainment.

Review Score:  60

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