And Soon the Darkness
Review By Sharon Foss
A remake of a 1970 movie, And Soon the Darkness is not one I would call fascinating, although there are many lessons to be had. In fact, the first lesson I learned is to once again not expect much. This especially rings true when the premise centers around two young hotties bicycling in a foreign country alone, with not a care in the world.
Lesson No. 1: Do not bicycle in a foreign country if you are hot…and barely speak the language.
Thus begins And Soon the Darkness. Stephanie and Ellie are carefree young women who join a bike tour of Argentina. Nothing sounds better than a jaunt around the gorgeous countryside does it?
Lesson No. 2: If you do choose to bicycle around a foreign country and you are hot, do NOT leave your designated tour group.
So Stephanie and Ellie decide to ditch their tour group and travel alone. After all, they know better than some organized group, right? Not that they have ever been to Argentina before…
Lesson No. 3: Mayhaps you ignore the first two lessons, so I advise you to let this one sink in. If you are traveling with a fellow girlfriend (hot or not), be prepared for a fight. Girls fight. It happens.
While Stephanie and Ellie are enjoying the last of their bike trip, they get into a squabble about the bus they missed that morning. It’s the last bus of the day, so Stephanie is upset. They missed the bus because of Ellie’s naughty kitten ways.
Lesson No. 4: When, not if, when the fight happens, make a pact to not depart from each other’s sides if you do happen to be on a bicycle tour in a foreign country. Nothing ever good comes of separating.
After said fight, Stephanie leaves Ellie behind. Thankfully they make up via cell phone. They must have purchased that long distance package. Yet, when Stephanie returns to retrieve Ellie, she’s gone. Blood is left behind, as is her phone.
Lesson No. 5: Gwen Stefani never spoke truer words than, “I’m just a girl living in captivity.”
Ellie is gone. Stephanie is searching for her. Stephanie has the help from fellow American Michael, but no help whatsoever from Argentina police. One is being held captive…but the other could just as well be trapped soon.
Lesson No. 6: This one goes out to writers and directors. If you insist on making movies that are not only remakes, but have been done a million times before, can you give us something new?
The movie itself is not terrible. Amber Heard (The Stepfather, Zombieland) does a fine job playing Stephanie. She’s the more cautious “let’s keep on track” partner in this intelligent duo. Odette Yustman (The Unborn and Cloverfield) also nails party girl Ellie who really gets herself into her own trouble. Director Marcos Efron and writer Jennifer Derwingson wrote a movie that keeps you interested until the end, but its predictability can be boring.
