POMO

An original, surprising and highly creative coming to terms with ethnic traumas in a small, extraordinarily intelligent genre flick set in a secluded “reform school”, from which you would expect anything but that. In terms of filmmaking craft, Boarding School is impressive from the opening moments, as it develops and examines the characters in their unconventional nature, taking delight in their psychologically electrifying, innocent and treacherous interactions. The film ambushes viewers with unexpected twists at the right time and in the right places. A remarkable, fragile yet morbid, and endearingly weird film. The only one of its kind.

A promising upgrade of the haunted house with its nooks, props and mystery, situated underwater, where it is explored by a couple of divers in scenes similar to those seen in versions of the same subject set on dry land, but with an underwater drone camera and a dwindling supply of oxygen. The filmmakers are unable to apply any inventiveness to overcome the awkwardness of the film’s concept, which makes you wonder, “What could possibly harm them if there are no fantasy monsters involved? A water spirit?”, and the more they try to push the horror angle, the more ridiculous the film becomes. Moronic behaviour of the characters, spastic scene continuity and scares that aren’t scary, all in a movie that must have been a lot of work to make.

Confusingly edited in the dramatic scenes and needlessly baffling in the climax, The Dark is a self-negating thriller that would like to work sophisticatedly on multiple plot levels. However, it is kept afloat by the presence of Maria Bello and Sean Bean and the atmosphere of the setting. If you like mysterious horror dramas, harsh wind, wave-ravaged Nordic islands and their dark folk legends, and if you have a weakness for one of the protagonists, like I do for Maria, you won’t be bored and you’ll turn a blind eye to the film’s missteps.