Super Dark Times

Super Dark Times is a 2017 American independent psychological thriller drama film directed by Kevin Phillips and starring Owen Campbell and Charlie Tahan.[2][3][4] It is Phillips' directorial debut.[5][6][7][8] After a traumatic accident, an inseparable pair of teenage boys and best friends lose their innocence from jealousy, violence and paranoia.

Super Dark Times
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKevin Phillips
Produced byEdward Parks
Richard Peete
Jett Steiger
Written byBen Collins
Luke Piotrowski
Starring
Music byBen Frost
CinematographyEli Born
Edited byEd Yonaitis
Distributed byThe Orchard
Release date
  • January 29, 2017 (2017-01-29) (Rotterdam)
  • September 29, 2017 (2017-09-29) (United States)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$33,109[1]

Plot

In 1996, in upstate New York, two teenage best friends, Zach and Josh, rate the girls in a yearbook. They find a common interest in Allison.

After school, the duo crosses the path of the universally-disliked Daryl and his eighth-grade friend Charlie. Later that week, the four boys meet up at Josh's house where they look through the possessions of Josh's brother, who is in the marines. They find a bag of marijuana, a pair of nunchaku, and a katana.

Afterwards the boys slash milk cartons with the katana in a nearby forest. The boys notice that Daryl is smoking a joint and has stolen the marijuana. After a tense argument, Daryl hits Josh. The two fight, resulting in Daryl being accidentally stabbed in the throat with the katana. The boys panic and decide to hide both Daryl's body and the katana.

During the next two days of school, rumors circulate about Daryl's disappearance. Zach has nightmares and Josh doesn’t attend classes. Zach wants to return to Daryl's burial site and attend Allison's upcoming party with Josh. Josh refuses to do either.

Zach goes to Allison's party where he is surprised to see Josh sharing his brother's weed with everyone. Zach, disturbed, leaves. Allison pursues him and they almost kiss, but Zach says he is unable to and leaves.

Another student, John Whitcomb, is found dead. Rumors speculate that he fell off a bridge. Zach suspects that John's death was not accidental. He returns to Daryl's burial site and finds the katana missing and Darryl’s corpse unearthed and mutilated. He calls Charlie and tells him that he suspects Josh killed John, but Charlie dismisses it.

Zach goes to Josh's house and barges into Josh's room, looking for the katana or evidence of the deaths. Zach sees Allison's phone number on Josh's caller ID and Zach frantically runs look for her. Meanwhile, Josh, Allison and Meghan smoke weed at Meghan’s house. Josh unwraps the katana from under a towel to show it to them.

Zach arrives at Meghan's house and quietly makes his way up the stairs. He hears muffled screams coming from Meghan's bedroom and opens the door to find Josh has murdered Meghan. Allison is tied and gagged in the corner, wounded but still alive. Josh locks Zach out of the room, but Zach climbs up on the roof and breaks the window to get back inside. Zach is attacked by Josh and attempts to escape, but Josh slashes his shoulder and stabs him in the leg. Zach attempts to fight him off, but Josh begins to strangle him. A neighbor intervenes, separates them, and holds Josh down.

Police and paramedics arrive at the scene. While the paramedics attend to Zach's wounds, he glances at Josh sitting in the back of a police car.

Months later, Allison has recovered and returns to school. A camera shot from the back of the classroom reveals the scars she received from the katana: three parallel lines on the back of her neck.

Cast
  • Owen Campbell as Zach Taylor
  • Charlie Tahan as Josh Templeton
  • Elizabeth Cappuccino as Allison Bannister
  • Max Talisman as Daryl Harper
  • Sawyer Barth as Charlie Barth
  • Amy Hargreaves as Karen Taylor
  • Adea Lennox as Meghan
  • Ethan Botwick as John Whitcomb
  • Ani Krueger as Mrs. Barron
  • Kortnee Simmons as Eugene
  • Casey Sullivan as Senior

Release

The film premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival.[9] It made its North American premiere on April 20, 2017 at the Tribeca Film Festival.[10] Deadline Hollywood reported that The Orchard had acquired worldwide distribution rights to the film in March 2017.[11] The film was released in theaters on September 29, 2017, and digitally on October 3, 2017.[12] It plays on Netflix streaming.[13]

Reception

The film has an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 47 reviews, with an average rating of 7.38/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Rich in atmosphere and period detail, Super Dark Times is an effective teen thriller whose true power lies in its approach to deeper themes."[14] Metacritic reports a score of 75/100 based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[15]

David Ehrlich of IndieWire graded the film a B–.[16]

Awards and nominations

Super Dark Times won the best feature film award at the 17th Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival.[17] It was also the winner of Best Sound Design in a Feature Film at the 2017 Music+Sound Awards,[18] and received a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Independent Film at the 44th Saturn Awards.[19] At the 33rd Independent Spirit Awards, Kevin Phillips was nominated for the Someone to Watch Award.[20]

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See also

References
  1. Super Dark Times at Box Office Mojo
  2. Miska, Brad (21 April 2017). "[Tribeca Review] 'Super Dark Times' is a Teenage Nightmare". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  3. Martin, Philip (5 May 2017). "Super Dark Times". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  4. Tallerico, Brian (20 July 2017). "FANTASIA 2017, DAY 6: "BAD GENIUS," "SUPER DARK TIMES"". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  5. Sokol, Tony (2 August 2017). "Super Dark Times Trailer Reveals High School Horrors". Den of Geek. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  6. Oller, Jacob (21 April 2017). "Super Dark Times (2017 Tribeca Film Festival Review)". Paste. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  7. Evans, Greg (2 August 2017). "'Super Dark Times' Trailer: Moment Of Horror Drives Harrowing Teen Drama". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  8. Weissberg, Jay (1 February 2017). "Rotterdam Film Review: 'Super Dark Times'". Variety. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  9. Young, Neil (2 February 2017). "'Super Dark Times': Film Review; Rotterdam 2017". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  10. McGovern, Joe (20 April 2017). "Watch an exclusive clip from high school thriller Super Dark Times". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  11. Grobar, Matt (22 April 2017). "'Super Dark Times' Stars & Director Kevin Phillips On An Act Of Violence That Changes Everything — Tribeca Studio". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  12. McGovern, Joe (2 August 2017). "Super Dark Times: Check out a tense trailer for the new high school thriller". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  13. "Super Dark Times". Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  14. "Super Dark Times (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  15. "Super Dark Times Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  16. Ehrlich, David (20 April 2017). "Review: 'Super Dark Times' Is An Unnerving Cross Between 'Stand By Me' and 'Donnie Darko' — Tribeca 2017". IndieWire. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  17. Gash, Lawrence (10 July 2017). "'Super Dark Times' takes top prize at Neuchatel". Screen Daily. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  18. "2017 Winners". Music+Sound Awards. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
  19. McNary, Dave (March 15, 2018). "'Black Panther,' 'Walking Dead' Rule Saturn Awards Nominations". Variety. Archived from the original on March 15, 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  20. Nyren, Erin (3 March 2018). "2018 Independent Spirit Awards: Winners List (Updating Live)". Variety. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
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