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The Other Side of Darkness is meant to impress as a socio-political twist for young adults attempting to be as entertaining as works like The Goonies and Frog Dreaming. At its very essence, this film hopes to be a modern Red Dawn for today’s youth.
In the plot, a 16-year-old girl opens up her birthday present, only to discover it had linked her and her friends to a thrilling plot and they now had to race against time to stop America’s power grid’s destruction.
As with many abstract films, The Other Side of Darkness runs into a primary self-identity problem. What are its socio-political undertones? To answer this question, the movie starts showing Taylor getting fired from a job she had, only to reveal she worked for her stepdad who was willing to take her back under the condition that she slept with him. Baffled, Taylor starts her journey to reclaim the parcel she received with the keys. This as a result takes her to a storage unit where a jeep awaits her. It’s at this moment that the movie starts to become engaging. So, Taylor hops into the jeep with her friend Hannah and her brother Patrick and drives off. During this sequence, there are news updates about power shortages taking place throughout America while the petrol stations report running out of gas.
I dare to say, the juicy plot was set for an action-packed thriller as from the title it was evident that The Other Side of Darkness expected twists and turns. Instead, what I stumbled upon was a long drawn drama that comprised mild action, forgettable action sequences, nature, woods, caves, a plethora of hot air balloons, and forest trolls, none of which brought any joy and engagement. Instead, it is apparent that the lack of funds is the core reason for the creative decisions made by the filmmaking team.
What I do find interesting is the assumption about who The Other Side of Darkness filmmakers allocated their spending. Their supposition about how much money was spent on the soundtrack actually does make a lot of sense. It’s justifiable, that the wish to have John Williams level score emulates the works of Steven Spielberg, and like any other country road dude song, that didn’t pay off. Instead, the movie offers a pathetic attempt at a bombastic memorial set piece, like a stylized John Denver. These Are, indeed, the greatest Wasters of Lunchtime.
Not even the gloriously extravagant soundtrack can save The Other Side of Darkness from drowning, step by step movement through the big still-life painting perfectly illustrates this concept. The whole film runs approximately and around 2 hours. That’s two hours too long. That’s right, there’s plenty of footage showcasing the protagonist aimlessly pacing around through the never-ending fields, elevating the boredom and pain to new heights.
Since filmmakers tried to recapture the glory of the 80s films, it would have made sense to direct a new version of Red Dawn as a fast-paced 90-minute thriller.
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