Review of And Soon the Darkness (2010) by Filipeneto — 13 Sep 2020

This film is just another remake of a much older English film, from 1970, which has fallen by the wayside. I have never seen it, I learned of its existence when doing some research for the writing of this review, but I intend to see it now that I know it exists. I cannot, however, compare them for now.

This film, in itself, is an average mystery film that does not scare or give us the feeling that there is danger. The story follows the trip to Argentina of two young American women, Stephanie and Ellie, who, after calling attention in a bar and missing the bus that would take them to the city, have a fight. In the aftermath of the fight, Ellie disappears and Stephanie will have to find her in the shortest amount of time, suspecting that she has been caught by an international women trafficking network.

The cast is headed by Amber Heard. Sexy and elegant, the blonde looks beautiful in a bikini and, it seems, that is precisely why she was hired to make this film, even though she has some dramatic abilities that she knew how to put to use in this film. Even so, it is a very weak performance, full of clichés and absurd scenes where her character does things that a normal human being would probably not risk (like that scene in the abandoned city where Stephanie, anguished, starts screaming the name of the friend… at a time when the kidnapping theory was already starting to gain strength for the character, shouting in such a way would only serve to attract the attention of the kidnappers… I think!). Oddete Annable also did what she needed but it was never more than a beautiful body to be displayed and a beautiful girl to be in danger of life. Karl Urban, who we already know from the new films in the "Star Trek" saga and the "Lord of the Rings" films, is quite effective in his role but has little to do and seems to be in the film the most. Argentines Michel Noher and César Vianco brought the villains to life and did so in a non-convincing and very boring way.

Technically, it is a low budget film with little money to spend on effects. What we have here, therefore, is based on an atmosphere of suspense and tension that is not always well-founded or built, but which sustains the film with some efficiency until the end. Cinematography is one of the most interesting technical points of this film, making a very well calculated use of landscapes and scenarios. The action scenes are very good but are within what we could expect and are quite predictable.