AMC’s Scream Unseen: ‘Out of Darkness’ [Review]

There is such power in words. I told myself I wanted to see more movies this year that I usually wouldn’t gravitate toward and that’s exactly what I did with the latest film I saw in theaters. If you frequent the movie theaters, then I suggest you get an app for your theater of choice. I usually go to AMC and the app has tons of perks one of which I finally took advantage of. Every so often AMC hosts what they call “Screen Unseen.” It’s where you’ll get an offer to see an unseen upcoming film but you won’t know what that movie is until showtime. You’ll get the rating and it’ll cost $5 plus tax.

On Monday, January 29, I finally participated in one because it was a “Scream Unseen,” so at least I knew going into the film it was in the horror genre. The showing was at 7pm and this happened at AMC Theaters across the country. My theater had a mixed crowd of older and younger movie lovers. People who came solo like myself and others in pairs or groups up to four. After the typical amount of trailers, the film finally started and it was…”Out of Darkness.”

This was not only a “Scream Unseen,” but a scream unheard of for me. Under the direction of Andrew Cumming, “Out of Darkness” was written by Ruth Greenberg and a story by Andrew Cumming and Oliver Kassman. The cast was small with six central characters: Adem (Chuku Modu), Geirr (Kit Young), Beyah (Safia Oakley-Green), Ave (Iola Evans), Heron (Luna Mwezi), and Odal (Arno Lüning). The official synopsis of “Out of Darkness” reads, “In the Old Stone Age, a disparate gang of early humans band together in search of a new land. But when they suspect a malevolent, mystical being is hunting them down, the clan are forced to confront a danger they never envisaged.”

Chuku Modu as Adem and Kit Young as Geirr in “Out of Darkness.” Photo by: Laura Radford

There are a few things to know going into “Out of Darkness.” The movie is spoken in a foreign language so subtitles are used throughout and this movie is elevated horror. If you’re not familiar with this fairly new sub-genre it’s when the concepts lean toward social commentary and use metaphors to tell stories of everyday horrors. Think Jordan Peele’s dive into horror. Cinematically the film was stunning with very intriguing editing choices from cinematographer Ben Fordesman and editor Paulo Pandolpho. Safia Oakley-Green had the stand out performance as Beyah and did everything that needed to be done in her circumstance.

Safia Oakley-Green as Beyah in “Out of Darkness.” Photo by: Laura Radford

In regards to scares, there weren’t any for me, but the tension was perfectly paced especially the scenes that played with the light and darkness. There were some disturbing images when it came to deaths, but nothing too hardcore. The overall plot speaks to the fear of “the other” without realizing how similar we all are and how we’re all just trying to survive. It’s like if Adam and Eve met Cavemen.

Still from “Out of Darkness.” Photo by: Laura Radford

I would attend another “Screen Unseen” and in fact, I have another one booked for next month. I think the concept of the program is interesting because it takes you out of your movie comfort zone. You’ll never know what you’ll like until you try it and sometimes you have to literally go into something blindly to give it a chance. This time it didn’t pan out quite how I thought it would. I would have never seen “Out of Darkness” willingly, but it wasn’t a terrible watch.

“Out of Darkness” comes to theaters on February 9, 2024.

Watch the “Out of Darkness” official trailer in the clip below. Would you participate in seeing a movie without knowing the exact title? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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Photo: Laura Radford