Out of Darkness
Protagonist Pictures | Release Date: February 9, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
IndieWireAlison ForemanFeb 9, 2024
As a scathing metaphor for humanity’s original sin, Out of Darkness is a revelatory feast of cranial gore and heady philosophy — one that’s not only worthy of a trek to the movie theaters mid Oscars season, but that has Cumming snagging an early lead in the race for best horror debut of 2024. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisFeb 8, 2024
Unfolding entirely in a fictional language (which the actors deliver with fluid conviction), and enriched by lovingly rendered practical effects, this first feature from Andrew Cumming pairs its minimalist narrative with the maximum of atmosphere. Read full review
85
Paste MagazineMatthew JacksonFeb 13, 2024
The aim is to deliver something that’s both a gripping throwback and a shockingly timeless exploration of human terror. Happily for horror fans, the film mostly hits the mark, and becomes a must-see genre film along the way. Read full review
80
Time OutPhil de SemlyenFeb 22, 2024
It’s anthropology, not violence, that provides the sting in the tail – a thought-provoking coda to an often pulse-pounding survival horror. Read full review
80
The Daily BeastNick SchagerFeb 7, 2024
A midnight movie that recognizes that there’s no existence without sacrifice, and no birth without death. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyFeb 9, 2024
The story told in “Out of Darkness” is ultimately sad more than terrifying, a parable about violence and the roots of human war. It’s an impressively credible and gnarly journey back in time. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 29, 2024
The frights may be standard issue, but that novel setting, the ways characters rise to or shrink from their greatest tests, and the grim nature of human life in this most fragile of ages make Out of Darkness a winner, right down to the minimalist pun of its title. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzFeb 8, 2024
Even at less than an hour and a half, the film is, shall we say, patient in unfolding its story. Part of this is set up, lulling the audience for the shocks to come. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerFeb 9, 2024
Cumming presents a natural world red in tooth and claw, yet the inevitable lessons learned in this moss-covered and frost-blasted wilderness still have modern resonances – about fear, bigotry, superstition, survival. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineRoss McIndoeFeb 5, 2024
Shot in the Scottish Highlands, Out of Darkness draws on the eerie atmosphere of a place that still feels ancient and steeped in mystery. Read full review
60
EmpireVictoria LuxfordFeb 26, 2024
Atmospheric and chilling, Out Of Darkness doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but adds some thoughtful twists to a well-worn genre. It’s an intriguing sign of things to come from a new filmmaking voice. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Ellen E JonesFeb 25, 2024
Proof that even the most basic cinematic tools can be used to make fire. Read full review
60
The GuardianCath ClarkeFeb 20, 2024
Miraculously this film is never silly. The recreation of stone age life feels unexpectedly convincing – partly I suspect, because of the sensible decision to have the actors speak a made-up stone age language instead of English (bolted together, apparently, from bits of Arabic, Basque and Sanskrit). Read full review
60
Screen RantAlex HarrisonFeb 9, 2024
It's almost like Cumming has made two films, one through aesthetics and atmosphere and one through story and theme, that ultimately can't coexist. Neither is a bad film, but the former makes a much greater impression, and I wish it had been seen through to the end. Read full review
60
ColliderChase HutchinsonFeb 7, 2024
Out of Darkness is an often jaw-dropping horror debut that arrives at a more substantive conclusion that makes everything more interesting in retrospect. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesJoshua RothkopfFeb 11, 2024
Out of Darkness is effective enough — and gory — to function as a thriller of the loud-noise-springing variety. But a last-act grasp at profundity in Ruth Greenberg’s screenplay feels unearned. Read full review
50
The PlaylistBrian FarvourFeb 9, 2024
While Out of Darkness is by no means bad, it’s far from the iconic status Cumming presumably hoped to achieve. Read full review
42
The Film StageEthan VestbyFeb 9, 2024
It’s lacking in the genuine requirements for this kind of picture––any real suspense, terror, or ickiness. Read full review
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