A Dark Song

My dear unknown friend,

As I wrote last week when talking of [The Devil's Candy] what I find refreshing about this current crop of horror films is the seriousness with which they embrace their subject matter. This goes beautifully so for the next movie I'd like to talk about, Liam Gavin's debut feature A Dark Song. 

The film, for which Gavin also penned the script, opens with a very resolute Sophia (even the character's names provide clues as to their roles within A Dark Song's cosmology) dealing with a real estate agent, stealthily checking the layout of the house against a compass secreted in her hand, and then paying the house's rental fee for a year in advance, a not inconsiderable amount. Sophia is played with a beautiful reserve by Catherine Walker who I had previously seen in Dark Touch yet that role did not prepare me for the stunning performance she unleashes within A Dark Song.

Following her rental of the house Sophia then interviews Joseph Solomon. It quickly becomes apparent that not only is Joseph an extremely knowledgeable and experienced practitioner of Western  ceremonial magic but he is interviewing Sophia just as much as she is supposedly interviewing him. Joseph is played with contemptuous and sardonic glee by Steve Oram who I had previously loved for his role in Sightseers. The depth to which he inhabits the role of a triumphantly repulsive character such as Solomon is a joy to behold. 

There is much in this film that is a delight for the viewer to experience themselves that I do not wish to ruin beforehand. With both actors turning in powerhouse performances of flawed characters willingly trapped within the confines of a house while they carry out a grueling magical operation for aims they may not be telling the truth about, to one another and to themselves, this is not a hardship. This film overflows with enough beautiful work that we can discuss without having to engage in the pedantic ticking off of plot points to fill out a review.

First up must be [Ray Harman's] masterful score for the film. We have been seeing a lot of great score work as of late yet the music for A Dark Song with its dread filled rhythmic pulses, sighs and groans is one of the most sublime experiences I have experienced in a long time. In a film that is firing on so many cylinders for me to sit up and take notice that the soundtrack is doing such phenomenal work is in and of itself an accomplishment. This is not to say Harman's work overwhelms. Far from it. This is film music purely in service to the image itself yet what a beautiful accompaniment it is.  Merely writing about the soundtrack makes me want to watch A Dark Song yet again if only just to enjoy Harman's masterful score, free from the questions of, "What is truly going on here?" and "What will happen to these two in the end?"

The cinematography by Cathal Watters is so on point it stuns. You can tell that simply by looking at stills of this film.  Given the fact they only had 20 days within the house with which to shoot this film it is a testament to pre-planned and carefully laid out shots. I have no doubt this film will be dissected and analyzed in videos on YouTube. Cathal Watters' meditative and dream-like compositions easily suggest that liminal feeling of another plane of existence, just barely beyond the grasp of mortal senses. 

The script by Liam Gavin is the secret weapon of A Dark Song. I said in my review of The Devil's Candy that I've been struck by the seriousness with which this group of films has approached their topics. Whether it be Satan, possession, witchcraft or in the case of A Dark Song ceremonial magic these artists are not just grabbing names, symbols or a few diagrams with which to dress their creations. They're studying their subjects deeply and then contemplating the ramifications of those subjects within our normal, work a day world. The internal logic to A Dark Song is as rigorous as Joseph Solomon's adherence to the Abramelin ritual itself. Character motivation is crystal clear at every step even as their motivations themselves twist and turn as more facts and personal history are revealed. Plot points are set up and then met succinctly. I found it truly telling that within days of the film hitting VOD those wanting to appear "in the know" were posting on social media, "The Abramelin...fuck..." as if a ritual to bring one in conversation with your holy guardian angel was the new Big Bad. Of course we saw the same with people claiming they were "For hire Chaos Mages" following the Constantine TV series and talking of "battle magic" following SyFy's The Magicians. You know you've made it when...

A Dark Song with its pitch perfect tone, air tight script, beautiful cinematography, outstanding soundtrack and powerhouse performances not only delivers an amazing experience it also puts to rest all those who ever said you could never properly convey the existential dread of H.P. Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen or any of the host of others that the "experts" have always bemoaned was impossible to bring to the silver screen. The problem with experts is they are always looking backwards. Soon as it is accomplished they will cry, "But of course! We knew it all along." What we need are visionaries like Liam Gavin and crew who are capable of ignoring the small minds of experts and will instead show us what lies beyond.