45,000 years ago . . . Six people search for a new home in a brutally inhospitable landscape . . . and when night falls, they are stalked by a terrifying enemy!
A small boat reaches the shores of a raw and desolate landscape. A group of six have struggled across the narrow sea to find a new home. They are starving, desperate, and living 45,000 years ago. First they must find shelter, and they strike out across the tundra wastes towards the distant mountains that promise the abundant caves they need to survive. But when night falls, anticipation turns to fear and doubt as they realize they are not alone. Terrifying sounds suggest something monstrous at large in this landscape, something that could kill or steal them away. As relationships in the group fracture, the determination of one young woman reveals the terrible actions taken to survive.
OUT OF DARKNESS is a survival horror film unique in its setting 45,000 years ago, the distance in time giving a new perspective on the genre. Its main characters are all too recognizably human in their behaviour, and will radically change the way cinemagoers think about our ancestors and who we are now.
The initial idea for OUT OF DARKNESS came about almost by chance. Andrew Cumming (Director) had recently graduated from the NFTS as a David Lean Scholarship student. His graduation film “Radiance” and follow up 3D short “Beneath” exhibited an exciting ambition and clarity of execution that opened up many possibilities for his debut feature. And then in a general meeting with Oliver Kassman, the producer mentioned that he wanted to make a Palaeolithic horror movie, and Andrew was stunned: “I said, you’ve basically described the film I want to make in 20 years’ time if I ever get to crazy levels of autonomy in my career.” Oliver felt he was being too modest: “Andrew is a natural born storyteller. And I don’t say that in a sense that he hasn’t honed his craft. He has, but he is also someone who is so innately visual in their thinking, and yet has such terrific empathy for the drama playing out across the screen, and that is quite rare. He is also a director who puts the audience at the heart of everything
he does. So I felt that Andrew could absolutely execute something like this. He’d already shown such vision in his short work, why shouldn’t he do something as bold as this straight out of the gate?” They co-wrote a treatment that laid out the basic concept, the shape of the story and the struggles between six characters. But for this project to work they would need an exceptional writer to bring it to life. Ruth Greenberg was also early in her career but had already written some striking spec scripts, such as Brit List topping Sci-Fi Western THE COMPETITORS. Andrew and Oliver were delighted.
Safia says: “The script got sent to me by TV Workshop and it absolutely blew my mind.” The part of Beyah particularly appealed to her for the emotional journey she would have to undertake. Safia explains she has “such an incredible arc . . . you feel like she ages 10 years in the film. She starts being this young, vulnerable, really insecure girl . . . but to go from that to what she is at the end. It’s just such a big change. So there was a lot to play with.” As Andrew says, “here is a 15-yearold child who starts as an innocent in an aggressive patriarchal system, and we see how that system corrodes her until she becomes the system that oppressed her.” Safia adds that “Beyah just wants to belong and then so much of her is
stamped on and stamped on. Ultimately, she’s just human, a kid doing what she has to do to get by and survive.” Safia’s talent proved to be one of the most rewarding aspects of the process for Andrew. He explains: “She just has such an amazing energy and she’s extremely intuitive, but also she analyses and intellectualizes the part. She does all her prep work but then can just turn up on set and have such a great imagination, which is what you look for in any actor. I just feel really fortunate and thrilled that people are going to see what she’s capable of in this film.”
Beyah’s story arc is in lockstep with her friendship with the character of Geirr. Andrew explains: “As Beyah becomes hardened and darker, Geirr becomes softer, and that creates the schism in their relationship. Their journey, their arc, is the heart of the story; how something pure and innocent can just be cut in two by oppression and fear.” Geirr is played by Kit Young, a RADA graduate who already had impressive experience in leading roles at the Donmar Warehouse, the Bridge Theatre, and as Jesper Fahey in the Netflix fantasy series “Shadow And Bone”. He was excited by the new challenge OUT OF DARKNESS presented him with. “It’s probably one of the only scripts that I’ve read beginning to end without putting it down . . . I hadn’t really read anything that was like it before. And that was before I knew that it was in a made-up language, and that was
riveting . . . And so when I realized there was another layer to it, I was like oh well I really, really hope I get the job.” Andrew explains; “From Kit’s first tape he just had this aching vulnerability. And his physicality is fantastic . . . Kit brings such tremendous pathos to the crafting of his character. On set I just always knew I can count on Kit. He brings such a warmth to the character.” Kit himself was very focused on this aspect of the role
– an empathetic young man in a brutal world. As he puts it: “Geirr has this great compassion, which he has to wrestle with because . . . the relationship between Beyah and Geirr, I think is the most important relationship, especially to Geirr. But throughout the film, the falling apart of this friendship that starts so well and goes so wrong and gets worse . . . becomes, you know, lethal and fatal for a lot of people.”
In stark contrast to Geirr is the character of his older brother, and leader of the group, Adem (Chuku Modu). Convinced that the group’s survival depends on this journey under his leadership, he is uncompromising, and, as the pressure mounts, ever more brutal. Andrew comments: “Adem feels he has the ability to shape the world around him, rather than it shape him. But when things go wrong he continues to pursue the idea and he will not back down, whatever the cost.” Chuku was keen to explore these complexities; “I have very mixed feelings towards him . . . to play this at face value strong, macho leader, and then be able to show the dark side of him as well was something I was really interested in . . . And that’s what really intrigued me about this film . . . what human beings are willing to go through to fulfil our ambitions, to survive. I think what the film does
is hold up a mirror to the audience. And within that moment, you’re like, ah, OK, maybe we’re not all running from a darkness. Maybe darkness is in us as a people.” This chimed exactly with the team’s hopes for the character. As Ruth put it: “It’s very important when you’re writing characters who do bad things not to make it black and white, but actually to show the complexity of what they do.” Oliver also comments: “With an actor of Chuku’s calibre you know you’ll get an incredible performance. But also, given Adem is a character that reveals himself to be very toxic . . . and Chuku himself is such a kind and gentle person, that really made a big difference, especially working with some of our younger actors.”
Iola Evans, who plays Ave, heavily pregnant with Adem’s baby, was also drawn to the more extreme experiences and actions of the characters in the film. Ave has lost a number of children before and is determined to carry this pregnancy to term and protect her baby. Iola says: “She doesn’t want to be seen as defunct as that diminishes her worth, and then she would be more at risk in the group . . . at the same time, she is helping to maintain this structure they’ve got. The people who are being oppressed by the system sort of play an active role in maintaining it.” Ruth comments: “In the characters of Ave and Beyah, it’s about seeing a woman who’s been broken by the system she survives within, and then watching an innocent child become broken by it too. I wanted to represent pregnancy on screen in a way you don’t often see it, as something brutal and visceral. Ave really is my tragic hero.” Such a complex role demands a great deal of an actor, particularly when their character is so repressed, but as Oliver recalls, Iola’s
performances never failed to astonish them throughout shooting: “She’d just get it, first time, every time . . . they’d roll on her and we’d look at each other and go, yeah, that was it! She was absolutely brilliant.”
The character of Odal, as Casting Director Heather Basten notes, “was probably the most challenging role to cast”, but from Arno Lüning’s first tape it was clear “he’d really studied the physicality of the character . . . it was captivating . . . he clearly understood what the project was about.” Arno himself was particularly drawn to the nascent religious ideas Odal uses to exert control over other people in the group – “He has a connection with spirituality influenced by dogmas that mess up the whole thing so that’s the tension in the group that he creates,” he says. Oliver goes further, saying “He’s such an extraordinary performer, he brings a real intensity to how sinister this corrupted and cynical character is.”
The final member of the movie’s lead cast is Heron, Adem’s 11-year-old son. A child who realizes that one day he is destined to take over his father’s role of leader in this new kingdom and is trying to be brave in the most intimidating of circumstances. Luna Mwezi, a Swiss-British young actor living in Zurich, had starred in Swiss-German language film NEEDLE PARK BABY (2020) and was so impressive in her performance of the character that regardless of gender the team decided she was the only actor for Heron. Luna simply says: “I actually feel quite comfortable playing a boy – it was fun!” But cutting all her hair off was only the start; as Heather explains, her commitment and ability went far further: “She’s so professional, she learned the language hands down, could execute Andrew’s direction really well. And she had some really great ideas herself.” Andrew agrees, noting how incredibly impressed with Luna’s skill, talent, and hard work he was: “She was startlingly good to work with, with acting skills that belie her age.” This maturity shows in Luna’s own description of her role: “Being a kid in that environment would be traumatizing, and you never forget that in the film.”
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Brett Summers
Brett founded CultFaction.com in 2014 a website and podcast that deals with cult film and tv. He also has a strong interest in grappling martial arts both as a practitioner and as a historian.