It doesn’t always have to be like ‘Independence Day’ or even ‘Transformers’ when aliens come to our Earth in the movies. In ‘Dark Encounter’ there is no gigantic space massacre and it is not about the end of our world and the entire species. Instead, director and screenwriter Carl Strathie (“Solis”) limits himself to a fairly manageable provincial town as a setting.
The Brit sometimes leans much more towards thriller tension and even works with elements from the horror subject. Nevertheless, it is unmistakable that he took Steven Spielberg’s emotional genre milestone “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” as an example for large parts of his surprisingly effectively directed indie film.
“Dark Encounter” airs today, November 3, 2023 at 10:25 PM on 3SAT. Alternatively, you can watch the FSK 16 title for free on the ARD media library until the end of January 2024. However, due to the age restriction, this is only possible from 10 p.m. – unless you register there and confirm that you are of sufficient age. Moreover, the work is done Joyn+* And WOW (formerly Sky Ticket)* each included in the flat-rate subscription. And of course, Blu-ray, DVD or paid video on demand are available from online retailers:
The leading roles are played by Laura Fraser and Mel Raido. Many of you probably know Fraser thanks to her central role in ‘Knights of Passion’ alongside Heath Ledger or as a recurring antagonist in ‘Better Call Saul’. Raido, on the other hand, had his biggest performances to date in the gangster biopic ‘Legend’ with Tom Hardy and alongside Kate Beckinsale in the psychological horror ‘The Disappointments Room’.
“Dark Encounter” on 3SAT: that’s the story
1982: Eight-year-old Maisie (Bridget Doherty) disappears without a trace in a small town. Father Ray (Raido) and mother Olivia (Fraser) desperately search for the girl with the help of Maisie’s brother Noah (Spike White) and the local police, but are unsuccessful.
Exactly a year after the terrible event, with the exception of Ray, they have more or less given up hope of seeing Maisie again. The family comes together with some friends and relatives to remember the girl. When the group sees bright lights in the nearby forest, they investigate.
Blinded by an increasingly bright light, they initially don’t even notice that Ray’s brother, Maisie’s Uncle Morgan (Vincent Regan), has now disappeared into the earth. Even the panicked search for him remains fruitless. Shortly afterwards, however, unexplained incidents began to occur in the parental home…
Sympathetically old-fashioned
As our author Lutz Granert writes in the FILMSTARTS review, the 2019 released “Dark Encounter” pays tribute in design to the aforementioned Spielberg classic “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. Cleverly used spotlights, smoke machines and an ominously swelling score do the job for which nowadays only more, sometimes less effective CGI gimmicks are used. There are a few here too, but Strathie is very careful about using them. This is not only sympathetic and refreshingly old-fashioned, it also adds a lot to the credibility of what is shown.
The finale of the story, on the other hand, is perhaps a bit too melodramatic and therefore not for everyone. In the last fifteen minutes at the latest, Strathie lacks the restraint that previously characterized the disastrous scenario. The lead actors are repeatedly shown in slow motion, while the pathos-laden strings and choral bombast of the score dominate the soundtrack. Until then, ‘Dark Encounter’ is an atmospheric, densely told sci-fi thriller that manages to create an all-encompassing authentic atmosphere with simple means and is worth seeing for that reason alone.
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