DARK PLACES (Gilles Paquet-Brenner) 113 minutes. Rating: NNN
Dark Places stars Charlize Theron as prickly, traumatized Libby Day, who’s forced to confront the childhood slaughter of her family when she’s approached by a young man (Nicholas Hoult) who believes her brother (Corey Stoll) – imprisoned for decades for the murders – is innocent.
The film is adapted from a novel by Gillian Flynn, but it’s a much more conventional thriller than Gone Girl, both in plot and tone, and if you go in expecting clever black comedy, you will surely be disappointed. On its own terms, though, it works well enough, with writer/director Gilles Paquet-Brenner (Sarah’s Key) making Libby’s emotional arc the focus instead of the convoluted plot.
It’s a smart move. Theron is rock solid as a survivor searching for a way to remove the armour she’s built around herself, her Fury Road co-star Hoult fleshes out his thinly defined sidekick role, and Christina Hendricks makes an impression as Libby’s doomed mother in a series of flashbacks.
See our interview with writer/director Gilles Paquet-Brenner here.