Jeremy Saulnier’s ‘Hold the Dark’ is Brutal Journey Into Wintry Darkness

GameStop, Inc.

Hold the Dark

With his last two features, Blue Ruin and Green Room, Jeremy Saulnier has become one of genre’s best filmmakers, operating with a duel-edged sword of brutal violence and unbearable tension. Now Saulnier finds himself on the world’s largest streaming service with Hold the Dark, an adaptation of the novel by William Girardi. While Hold the Dark isn’t as enrapturing as his previous two films, it is still a brutal, tense journey through the snow into the heart of darkness.

Medora Sloane (Riley Keough) is living in a small Alaskan village with her son Bailey (Beckam Crawford) while her husband Vernon (Alexander Skarsgård) is serving in the military in the Middle East. One fateful day, a lone wolf from the nearby wilderness takes Bailey from just outside his home. In her desperation and depression, Medora reaches out to Russell Core (Jeffrey Wright), who has studied wolves extensively and written a book on the subject. Russell flies out to Alaska and he meets the grieving mother who asks that he tracks down and kills the wolf that killed her son. But Russell’s journey into the snow-covered wilderness uncovers deep dark secrets hidden in the icy Alaskan town.

Now I’m not going to traverse into spoiler territory here, but it’s worth nothing that for various reasons, Medora runs and goes into hiding as Vernon returns from his military duty. As the husband seeks out his wife on the run, Russell Core teams up with the local deputy Donald Marium (James Badge Dale) to find the missing couple. With everything that is going on, it seems as if an evil spirit has been resurrected in the snowy forests of the great north as blood is shed and bodies pile up.

The kind of existential dread that is at the heart of Hold the Dark and the screenplay adaptation by Macon Blair does prevent Saulnier from crafting his typically straightforward violent thrillers. There are questions that constantly swirl around the mind as the events of Hold the Dark unfold, and it’s that ambiguity combined with an overwhelming sense of evil’s presence that garners the most terror. The violence on display amidst the majesty of the wintry locales capture brilliantly by cinematographer Magnus Nordenhof Jønck create a fascinating juxtaposition between natural beauty and manmade brutality. However, there’s a certain distance that Saulnier’s film keeps from its characters that makes it hard to connect with any of them with the exception of Jeffrey Wright’s Russell Core, who serves as the audience’s perspective of these confounding and horrific events.

While I didn’t find Hold the Dark to capture the sheer tension of, say, Green Room, it does have one sequence that is stunning in its construction and absolutely ghastly in its violence. The Native American Cheeon (Julian Black Antelope) is holed up in his little wooden home when a gang of deputies come knocking at his door. He’s been expecting them. The standoff doesn’t last long before Cheeon unleashes a barrage of bullets on the assembled police officers. The scene is harrowing and intense in a way that presents the audience with a flurry of gunfire and the grisly aftermath that never revels in the bloodshed, but brings forth the abject terror of gun violence at its worse. While Hold the Dark doesn’t maintain this level of tension and terror throughout, this one particular sequence highlights why Jeremy Saulnier is a modern master of tension and suspense.

Hold the Dark ranks as a minor disappointment, but that’s only because Saulnier set the bar so high with Green Room and Blue Ruin. At the same time, it sees one of the best young filmmakers working today expanding his canvas, attempting a movie on a larger scale and tackling a different form of brutal violence. The terror at the heart of Hold the Dark is different than what Saulnier had previously brought to the screen, because it’s easier to understand the violent nature of neo-Nazis as opposed to an unexplained, mystical form of evil that operates without a thorough explanation. Aspects of Hold the Dark are captivating and horrifying while other aspects of the film are just plain confounding. This is a bitter, brutal pill to swallow. Whether or not it goes down for you depends on whether or not you can handle what Saulnier offering, because it ain’t for everybody.

 

Hold the Dark
  • Overall Score
3

Summary

While featuring some absolutely brutal cinematic violence, Jeremy Saulnier’s Hold the Dark doesn’t quite maintain the tension of the director’s previous films but offers a bitter pill of a movie that takes viewers deep into the heart of darkness in the Alaskan wild.

Anytime Costumes

Leave a Reply

FanboyNation
Animation/Anime Interviews Animation/Anime News Animation/Anime Reviews Film/TV Interviews Film/TV News Film/TV Review
‘Wednesday’ Comes to Blu-ray on Tuesday from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

‘Wednesday‘ Comes to Blu-ray on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, from Warner...

Toy Lei Talks About Playing Auntie Victoria in ‘The Brothers Sun’ – Interview Rewind

Asian-American actress Toy Lei stars as Auntie Victoria in the new...

Marcus Massey Talks ‘Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2’ – Interview

Marcus Massey Shares his Wisdom as Owl in ‘Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and...

Event News Event Reviews
‘MJ the Musical’ Chronicles the Life of the ‘King of Pop’ Running at Segerstrom – Review

‘MJ the Musical‘ is the Ultimate Stage Adaptation, Chronicling the life...

Aiden Sinclair and Michael Rangel Talks ’57 Ghosts’ Aboard the Queen Mary Séance

Aiden Sinclair and Apparitionist, Michael Rangel Discuss their new Theatrical Séance...

Luke and Madison Rhoades Open ‘Slashers Axe Throwing’ – Interview

Luke and Madison Rhoades Open Orange County’s first ever horror themed...

Automotives Football MMA, Kick Boxing & Boxing Professional Wrestling
Olympic Runner Colleen Quigley ‘On The Road to Paris’

Team USA Olympic Runner, Colleen Quigley is On The Road to...

Paralympian Swimmer Ahalya Lettenberger On The Road to Paris

Team USA Paralympian Swimmer, Ahalya Lettenberger is On The Road to...

Ultimate Women of Wrestling Comes to the Globe Theatre – Interview

Ultimate Women of Wrestling Comes to the Globe Theatre on Sunday,...

Adult Continuity Comics on the Can Cultural Junk Drawer Future Comic Rock Stars Is That Racist? Revisiting the Reviled THAT'S NOT ROTTEN! The B-Reel The Cantina Scene This Week in Crowdfunding What the HELL Did I just...?
Fantoy Comics Presents: Harry Potter and the Pahrump Apocalypse – SID SPEAKS!

"We Demons! Let's go CRUNK on this punk-ass world!"

Fantoy Comics Presents: Harry Potter and the Pahrump Apocalypse: Escalation

When you said "Destroy" Kurt grabbed his mini-gun an AK-47 and...

Fantoy Comics Presents: Harry Potter and the Pahrump Apocalypse, the continuing saga!

If cautious means being careful when I break a foot off...

Music Interviews Music News Music Reviews
Joe Kwaczala Talks About His new Comedy Album ‘Funny Songs & Sketches’ – Interview

Joe Kwaczala Talks About His new Comedy Album ‘Funny Songs &...

Songwriter and Poet, Tamara Mechael Talks About Her Career in the Arts

First Generation Assyrian-Chaldean, Songwriter and Poet, Tamara Mechael Talks About Her...

Louden Swain Headlining Los Angeles Show at The Echo

Press Release – Louden Swain are headlining Los Angeles show at...

Enabled Gaming Gaming News Gaming Reviews
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Gameplay Trailer

The first Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League gameplay trailer was revealed during...

Wonder Woman Game
Wonder Woman Game Announced By DC and WB Games

Wonder Woman game will feature the iconic hero in a 3rd...

MultiVersus
MultiVersus brings Batman, Arya Stark, Bugs Bunny, and More

MultiVersus is bringing Shaggy, Harley Quinn, Jake, Batman, Arya Stark, Bugs Bunny,...

Comic Creator Interviews Comic/Graphic Novel News Comic/Graphic Novel Reviews Manga News Manga Reviews Novel/Novella Author Interviews Novel/Novella News Novel/Novella Reviews
Gary Morgenstein Talks ‘A Dugout to Peace’ the Final Installment of his Trilogy

Gary Morgenstein Talks About ‘A Dugout to Peace‘ the final installment...

Chris Clews Is ‘Raised on the 80s’ and Shares Those Life Lessons

Chris Clews was ‘Raised on the 80s‘ and Shares Those Life...

Roye Okupe Brings Authentic African Representation to HBO Max and Cartoon Network

Nigerian-American, Roye Okupe brings authentic African representation to HBO Max and...

Apparel/Personal Maintenance News Apparel/Personal Maintenance Reviews Entertainment Product News Entertainment Product Reviews Food/Beverage Reviews Hardware News Hardware Reviews Mystery Box News Mystery Box Reviews
Harry Potter: Magic Caster Wand Demo

The new ‘Harry Potter: Magic Caster Wand‘ is ready to ship...

Chef Jen Peters and Matthew Clayton Bring us the ‘Good Flour’

Canadian Super Chef Jen Peters and Matthew Clayton Bring us the...

Pop Insider 2021 Holiday Gift Guide
Pop Insider 2021 Holiday Gift Guide

The Pop Insider 2021 Holiday Gift Guide is now available to help...

Gaming Uncensored Toon-In-Talk
Episode 38: Hamid Rahmanian

Join Whitney Grace as she speaks with artist Hamid Rahmanian, who...

No Preview
Toon-In Talk Episode 37: Niki Smith

Whitney Grace interviews graphic novel writer and artist Niki Smith about...

Toon-In Talk Episode 36: Rob Paulsen

Rob Paulsen takes some time from his busy voice acting schedule...