On a secluded farm in a nondescript rural town, a man is slowly dying. His family gathers to mourn, and soon a darkness grows, marked by waking nightmares and a growing sense that something evil is taking over the family.

Director: Bryan Bertino

Writer: Bryan Bertino

Stars: Marin Ireland, Michael Abbott Jr., Julie Oliver-Touchstone

John Smistad’s Review:

The acting performances, in particular co-leads Marin Ireland (TV’s The Umbrella Academy, Homeland) and Michael Abbott Jr. as scared senseless siblings, uniformly sturdy. The central Texas rural cinematography (credit to the keen eye of Tristan Nyby), striking. The sinister sense of dread developed by Writer/Director Bryan Bertino pulsating in unrelenting undercurrent from start to finish of this enormously eerie tale, piercing.

But why in the hell is any of this evil even happening to these people? There are no answers provided in the deeply disconcerting horror drama “The Dark and the Wicked”.

So, what we are left with is little more than a vague subtext of “They don’t believe in God”.

Even as a Christian, I don’t believe that’s enough.

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