Dark Place (film)

Dark Place is a 2019 Australian horror anthology film. The shorts in the film were written and directed by Indigenous filmmakers Kodie Bedford, Perun Bonser, Rob Braslin, Liam Phillips, and Bjorn Stewart. All five shorts centre on Aboriginal peoples and the long-reaching impact of colonialism in Australia.

Dark Place
Directed byKodie Bedford
Perun Bonser
Rob Braslin
Liam Phillips
Bjorn Stewart
Written byKodie Bedford
Perun Bonser
Rob Braslin
Liam Phillips
Bjorn Stewart
CinematographyLászló Baranyai
Edited byAdrian Powers
Lawrie Silvestrin
Music byJed Palmer
Production
companies
Distributed byOne Eyed Films (UK)
Running time
75 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

Synopsis

"Scout" (Kodie Bedford)

A group of Indigenous women have been kidnapped and forcibly sex-trafficked, however it seems like their captors may have darker plans for them. The women must try to not only escape, but also get their revenge against their white captors.

"Foe" (Liam Phillips)

After a tragic event upsets her life, Eleanor begins to experience strange sleeping habits. She decides to record her sleeping patterns, but begins to notice something even stranger happening.

"Vale Light" (Rob Braslin)

Forced to move after their last place caught on fire, Shae and her daughter Isabelle find themselves creeped out by their new neighbour Diane. While Diane initially seems friendly, it doesn't take long for her true, awful personality to emerge.

"The Shore" (Perun Bonser)

Selena finds herself mesmerised by a figure in the water that may or may not be a vampire.

"Killer Native" (Bjorn Stewart)

A British couple has travelled to Australia in hopes of finding a place to make their dream home. They do not expect it to be easy, but they did not expect to find themselves hunted.

Cast

Production

Filming for the shorts took place largely in 2018.[1] All of the shorts are directed by indigenous filmmakers and deal with the topic of how colonialism has impacted the Aboriginal populations in Australia.[2] Directors Kodie Bedford and Bjorn Stewart commented upon their creative process in an article for the Special Broadcasting Service. Stewart commented that creating a film about "blackfella zombies" had been a desire of his ever since he saw Dawn of the Dead, the 2004 remake of the 1978 film by the same name. For her short, "Scout", Bedford wanted to make it both female-centric and empowering. She has described it as "the black Kill Bill" and that it “is about exploring females, in particular, Aboriginal females who are exploited in society and they're finding their place in the world”.[3]

Release

Dark Place had its world premiere during August 2019, at the Sydney Film Festival.[2] It later had its Canadian premiere on 24 October 2019 at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, where it screened at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto, Ontario.[4]

Reception

Dark Place has a rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on nine reviews.[5] Common elements of praise centered upon the themes presented in the anthology, as well as the choice of shorts.[6][7] SciFiNow commented that "It’s never an easy task putting together a range of shorts in this format and finding the desired outcome, but with a lean running time of 75 mins, Dark Place provides an enjoyable and intriguing variety of themes and genres."[8]

The Alliance of Women Film Journalists commented upon the themes of colonialism, writing "Scout typifies what it is that largely makes Dark Place so special; the directors of this anthology understand the power of horror to address real issues in a contemporary Australia haunted by an ugly and at times terrifying colonial past."[9] Starburst held similar opinions and noted that the last short, "Killer Native", was "a high point, despite being tonally out of sorts compared to what has come before."[10]

Killer Native feature film

In May 2020 Screen Australia announced that it would fund eleven feature films, one of which would be a feature length adaptation of Bjorn Stewart's "Killer Native", entitled Invasion of the Killer Natives.[11] The film will be produced by Noble Savage Pictures' Majhid Heath and Hayley Johnson, who also worked on Dark Place.[12]

References
  1. "Dark Place (2018 - 2019) - The Screen Guide". Screen Australia. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  2. "DARK PLACE Trailer: Emerging Aboriginal Filmmakers Tackle Post-Colonial Australia in Horror Anthology". ScreenAnarchy. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  3. "Australia's answer to 'Get Out': The Indigenous filmmakers creating 'black horror'". SBS News. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  4. "Dark Place". imagineNATIVE. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  5. "Dark Place (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes.
  6. Newman, Kim (29 August 2020). "FrightFest review – Dark Place". The Kim Newman Web Site. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  7. "Arrow Video FrightFest 2020 Review – Dark Place". Flickering Myth. 30 August 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  8. "Dark Place: FrightFest 2020 review". SciFiNow. 30 August 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  9. Heller-Nicholas, Alexandra. "Sydney FF 2019: DARK PLACE". ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS. Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  10. "DARK PLACE [FrightFest 2020]". STARBURST Magazine. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  11. "Screen Australia backs 18 projects with story development funding". IF Magazine. 12 May 2020. Archived from the original on 19 May 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  12. "Screen Australia announces development funding for 18 new projects". Screen Australia. Archived from the original on 23 May 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
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