Hold the Dark: I get the criticism, to an extent anyway

Platypuschow

Hold the Dark is a bone of contention for Netflix users, the community seems thoroughly torn and I found myself pushing it up my watchlist because it was recommended to me.

Upon reading reviews from the IMDB community the constants were a belief that the movie has no purpose, no ending and nothing is resolved. I disagree entirely and think that without coming across as some type of arrogant pseudo intellectual movie fan that they didn't understand it. Hold the Dark has several layers, and I get the impression that people missed out on a few critical plot points that weren't spoon fed but tantalizingly revealed over the course of the movie.

So sure the movie is fairly clever, it just isn't very good. Despite a beautiful setting, Wright & Skarsgard putting in fantastic performances and all these wonderful little nuances that I believe people missed its just not that engaging.

I'm saddened by this as it was certainly a movie I wanted to enjoy, I simply couldn't. For this reason I get the criticism to an extent, but would advise that people who didn't "Get it" either watch it again or use a spoiler site to explain it to them.

The Good:

Incredible setting

Strong performances

Quite cleverly constructed

The Bad:

Fails to really engage the viewer

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

All movies set in Alaska are actually filmed in Canada

Alexander Skarsgård is one of the most underutilized actors in Hollywood

Soup choice is important even during the worst pain and strife

score 4/10

Platypuschow 29 December 2018

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4545576/