In the Dark Half

Plot summary

Marie, a 15-year-old girl, lives with Kathy, her mother, and occasionally babysits for her next door neighbour, Filthy, a poacher who is widely rumored to have murdered his wife. Marie and Kathy have been drifting apart, and there are unresolved issues between them. Kathy's behavior has been erratic, and Marie believes that her mother plans to leave her. When Filthy's young son, Sean, spontaneously dies of apparently natural causes while Marie is babysitting him, Marie becomes obsessed with her neighbor and begins to think that his stories about spirits in the hills may be true. Filthy, devastated by the loss of his son, reacts furiously when Marie loots his traps and breaks into his house to steal Sean's favorite toy. When Marie states that she needs these items in order to appease the spirits and contact his dead son, Filthy initially dismisses the myths as idle stories he told Sean. However, Filthy eventually comes to believe Marie and commits suicide to be with son, whom he believes to be lonely. Before he dies, Filthy urges Marie to return to her own father, and Marie realises that she has repressed her mother's suicide; instead of living with her mother, she has been working through her grief and denial while ignoring her father. Having come to terms with this loss, Marie reunites with her father.

Cast

Production

In the Dark Half was shot in Bristol, England. Producer Matheson was drawn to the script because of the quality and opportunity to work in a new genre, and director Siddons was inspired by European horror films.

Release

In the Dark Half premiered at Raindance Film Festival on 8 October 2011. The United Kingdom theatrical premiere was on 10 August 2012.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 63% of eight surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 5.4/10. Catherine Shoard of The Guardian rated the film 3/5 stars and called it "polished and impressive", though she faulted it for requiring "slightly more patience than it consistently rewards". Philip French, also of The Guardian, wrote in a negative review that the film is "ambitious but disappointing". Writing in Time Out London, Dave Calhoun rated the film 3/5 stars and described it as a "mysterious, thoughtful experiment". Kim Newman of Empire rated it 2/5 stars and criticized the film's pacing. Josh Winning of Total Film rated the film 3/5 stars and compared it to The Sixth Sense. Reviewing the film on DVD, Ben Walsh of The Independent called it "a promising debut from Siddons".