Indie
[Review] ‘A Dark Song’ is a Flawed Occult Chamber Piece
Tensions fray between an occult practitioner and a desperate mother in Liam Gavin‘s flawed chamber piece, A Dark Song.
Struggling to come to terms with the death of her young child, Sophia (Catherine Walker) turns to dark magic to relieve the unbearable pressure of her grief. After procuring a large isolated house in rural Wales, she calls on Solomon (Sightseers’ Steve Oram) to lead her through the intimate ‘procedure’.
Gavin drew on real-world ritualism to create the film’s central rite. Many recognisable elements are present – candles, beautifully crafted intricate floor markings and spoken incantations – but they are just surface details. The real summoning goes on in the mind. The process takes months, during which time Sophia and Solomon are entirely housebound. They don’t get on all that well to begin with, so tensions are high from the off.
The power struggle between the two is one of the film’s most interesting facets, but Gavin never makes the most of it. By choosing to play with the temporal fluidity, he only really tells us how long and hard this process is rather than actually showing us. Walker and Oram are game and their performances reach suitably deep and dark places. But, we never get to really feel just how horrible this procedure would be. The rocky editing does do a fair job of reflecting their increased mania, as Sophia yoyos from seemingly unjustified hopefulness to impatient anger. However, we’re not sure whether these two moments are weeks apart, or whether she is ricocheting from one to the other on a dime.
The dialogue also comes across as strangely artificial and is crippled by odd rhythmic idiosyncrasies. The occult babble doesn’t help: it just adds further confusion to an already flimsy set of rules, as Solomon rebuffs Sophia’s questions with yet more frustrating spouting. There’s also some pretty harsh language from both parties, which is an unfortunate distraction.
Things do start to escalate in the final act and Gavin takes us to some creepy places, but I was passed really caring, by that point. That being said, Sophia’s final emotional discovery does work nicely. As does Ray Harman‘s score: it has echoes of Jed Kurzel‘s work on last year’s Macbeth with its painful and unsettling strings, but it also has a softer side that breaks through at select moments.
A Dark Song has the crux of an interesting idea, but doesn’t deliver a particularly satisfying journey on the way to its resonant conclusion. I wanted to leave the house, but not because I was overwhelmed by the claustrophobia, more because I was done with Sophia and Solomon.
Her House of Horrors, the horror division of Independent Production House WOMXNOGRAPHY, has launched its Bite Size Short Grant Program, ahead of its film festival Dollhouse of Horror, which will take place in March 2025 in Los Angeles, CA.
The Bite Size Short Grant Program awards $2,000 film grants to female-identifying and queer horror filmmakers. Shorts must be able to be made for $2,000, with a minimum runtime of 8 minutes. Submissions are now open on Filmfreeway, and are being judged by a panel of horror lovers and content creators.
The 2024 Bite Size Short Grant Program judge lineup is as follows:
“James H. Carter II- A documentary director, film producer, podcaster, marketing specialist, and writer. James is the founder and co-owner of Creepy Kingdom. Creepy Kingdom was founded in 2011 and is a multimedia website, and production studio specializing in creepy content. Their primary focus lies at the intersection of childlike fantasy and the macabre, covering horror films, theme parks, haunts, and much more. Beyond their extensive media coverage, Creepy Kingdom hosts events, offers original merchandise, and engages in film production under the Creepy Kingdom Studios brand producing original films like “Foolish Mortals”, exploring Disney’s “Haunted Mansion” fan culture, and “Georgie”, featuring Tony Dakota from the original “It” miniseries.
“In addition to founding Creepy Kingdom, James has won awards for his documentary work, including the award-winning “Foolish Mortals,” which has earned him recognition. He has been featured on Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween special.
“Ashleeta Beauchamp is the editor-in-chief of Peek-A-Boo! Magazine, a cheeky horror magazine created to uplift marginalized writers, artists, models and other creators within the horror community. She also runs The Halloween Coalition, a community group to provide support and marketing for horror and Halloween events around the Southern California area.
“Titeanya Rodríguez is a multi-hyphenate creative, and the founder and owner of HER HOUSE OF HORRORS, home of DOLLHOUSE OF HORROR and the horror division of WOMXNOGRAPHY. As a fellow storyteller and a self-proclaimed artivist, Titeanya’s mission is to create opportunities for women of color and queer women, across film, tv, sports, music, and beyond. She is also the creator of the BITE SIZE SHORT grant program.”
Winners will have a one-night theatrical screening at Regal Cinemas. Submissions Close April 8 at Midnight. Winners will be announced on May 27, 2024. Shorts must be shot and through post-production by June 30, 2024. The screening will take place on July 8, 2024, in Los Angeles, CA.
WOMXNOGRAPHY, HER HOUSE OF HORRORS, and Rodriguez are represented by Azhar PR, Granderson Des Rochers, and Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir.
To submit your short to the Bite Size Short Grant Program, go to the FilmFreeway link here.
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