Hold the Dark

Hold the Dark is a 2018 American action thriller film directed by Jeremy Saulnier from a screenplay by Macon Blair. It is based upon the novel of the same name by William Giraldi. The film stars Jeffrey Wright, Alexander Skarsgård, James Badge Dale, Riley Keough, Tantoo Cardinal, and Julian Black Antelope. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2018 and was released on September 28, 2018, by Netflix.

Hold the Dark
Official poster
Directed byJeremy Saulnier
Screenplay byMacon Blair
Based onHold the Dark
by William Giraldi and editor screenwriter Nikolas Ker(Keramitsos)
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMagnus Nordenhof Jønck
Edited byJulia Bloch
Music by
  • Brooke Blair
  • Will Blair
Production
companies
  • Addictive Pictures
  • VisionChaos Productions
  • FilmScience
Distributed byNetflix
Release dates
  • September 12, 2018 (2018-09-12) (TIFF)
  • September 28, 2018 (2018-09-28) (worldwide)
Running time
125 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

In December 2004, Medora Slone (Riley Keough) summons Russell Core (Jeffrey Wright) to hunt down the wolves responsible for the disappearance of three small children in the village of Keelut, Alaska, including her 6-year-old son Bailey. Medora mentions a hot springs to the north of town.

Medora's husband Vernon (Alexander Skarsgård) is fighting the war in Iraq. He discovers another American soldier raping a local woman. Vernon wounds the rapist with a knife and hands the weapon to the woman.

While tracking the wolves, Core meets an old woman who tells him Medora "knows evil." He finds a pack of wolves eating their young. At the Slone house, he finds Medora missing and discovers Bailey's frozen, strangled body. The villagers claim Medora is possessed by a wolf-demon.

Vernon returns from Iraq and goes to the morgue. He kills the officers and the coroner, takes Bailey's body, and buries him in the snow. Vernon proceeds to track Medora and commits several murders along the way, including John, an elderly hunter who treated him with wolf-oil as a child for his psychopathy.

Core finds Medora at the hot springs and warns her her husband is coming. Before they can flee, Vernon shoots Core in the chest with an arrow. Vernon strangles Medora until she pushes the mask off his face and he releases her. Vernon and Medora leave, dig up Bailey's grave, and pull the coffin behind them as they trek through the snow. Core is rescued and wakes up in the hospital with his daughter Amy at his bedside.

Cast

Production

In September 2015, it was announced Jeremy Saulnier would direct the film, based upon a screenplay by Macon Blair; while Eva Maria Daniels, Russell Ackerman and John Schoenfelder would produce the film under their VisionChaos Productions banner and Addictive Pictures banners respectively, A24 would distribute the film.[2] In January 2017, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film, with Anish Savjani and Neil Kopp joining as producers.[3] In February 2017, Alexander Skarsgård, Riley Keough, James Bloor, James Badge Dale and Jeffrey Wright joined the cast of the film.[4]

Filming

Principal photography began on February 27, 2017, and concluded on April 26, 2017. Filming took place in and around the areas surrounding Calgary, Drumheller and Kananaskis Country, Alberta, which were used to substitute for Alaska.[5][6]

Release

It had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2018.[7] It also screened at Fantastic Fest on September 22, 2018.[8][9] It was released on September 28, 2018.[10]

Critical reception

Hold the Dark received generally positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported a 71% approval rating based on 85 reviews, with an average score of 6.5/10. The website's critical consensus they, "Hold the Dark's unsettling aesthetic offers more of what filmgoers expect from director Jeremy Saulnier — and is often enough to prop up shaky narrative underpinnings."[11] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 63 out of 100 based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[12]

References
  1. "Hold the Dark". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  2. Kroll, Justin (September 24, 2015). "A24, 'Green Room' Helmer Reteaming on Thriller 'Hold the Dark'". Variety. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  3. McNary, Dave (January 26, 2017). "Netflix to Distribute Thriller 'Hold the Dark' With 'Green Room' Director". Variety. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  4. Kit, Borys (February 10, 2017). "Jeffrey Wright, Alexander Skarsgard, James Badge Dale to Star in Netflix Thriller 'Hold the Dark' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  5. "HOLD THE DARK – FEATURE FILM- UNION (Non-Union talent may also apply)". EbossCanada.com. Archived from the original on February 28, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  6. "Hold the Dark" (PDF). Directors Guild of America. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  7. Kay, Jeremy (August 14, 2018). "Toronto unveils Contemporary World Cinema, more Galas and Special Presentations". Screen International. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  8. "Hold the Dark". Fantastic Fest. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  9. Day-Ramos, Dino (August 22, 2018). "Fantastic Fest: 'Halloween', 'Hold The Dark', 'Climax' Set For Second Wave Of Programming". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  10. Travis, Ben (August 9, 2018). "Jeremy Saulnier's Green Room Follow-Up Hold The Dark Has His 'Highest Body Count' – Exclusive Image". Empire. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  11. "Hold the Dark (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  12. "Hold the Dark Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
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