Super Dark Times wasn't on my list even after watching the trailer, but it should have been. Though categorized under the Horror/Thriller genre, it pulls in a lot of suspenseful elements without any jump scares, paranormal activity, or abandoned houses.
I would say the movie captures suburban middle school-high school age perfectly for your average no name teens. Though I could not relate to the main characters myself, I undoubtedly recognized their jerk-like innocence in the peers around me, even down to the same phrases. I was so intrigued with how close their vernacular was, that my friend and I wondered how many of the lines were scripted versus improvised. Either way, Piotrowski and Collins, really must have dug deep from their 90’s childhoods to connect themselves to the two main characters.
Speaking of time period, the film is shot in a way where the viewer may not notice or question the setting for the first 10 minutes of the movie until noticing no cellphones are present, and a walkman is seen. I really liked how the 90’s time period was used in a non-nostalgic way, and is one of the only movies where I haven't seen the time period thrown in my face. Don’t get me wrong, I do love nostalgia, but that is not the point of this movie. It is a test between so-called best friends to see how their friendship and them as individuals last through this very intense week.
In terms of the plot itself, I expected the inciting action to happen the way it did, but did not expect the climax by any means. I assumed the story would have more to do with how both main characters had a guilty hand in this horrible accident, but instead, the guilt gets shifted off of one of them and is completely put on the other. Initially I wanted to see both characters deal with their consequences and still think that could have been a fascinating ending, but Piotrowski and Collins really wanted to flip our understanding at the end.
I have to say the ending is quite wild and very gruesome, but the very last scene points away from the two boys and positively towards a character that was caught in the middle.
To put it simply Super Dark Times is Super dark, but enough in the realm of possibility that I had to search if this story was based on true events; it was not. This made me even more amazed by how well the writers captured a situation that thankfully most people do not have to go through. I would recommend this movie to any budding filmmaker, as the content seems original, the setting is simple, and character anxiety is built really nicely.
- Ashton
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