Title: Super Dark Times
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Director: Kevin Phillips
Starring: Max Talisman, Charlie Tahan, Elizabeth Cappuccino
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

What It Is: Daryl (Talisman) and Josh (Tahan) are doing what teenage boys do. Riding bikes and causing mischief. When Josh brings a katana to play with it results in the death of classmate Zach (Owen Campbell). The boys hide Zach’s body so as not to have to explain his death. Following this incident something inside Josh and Daryl changes, in two very different ways, they are no longer the same as they once were.

What We Think: At times this film is equal parts tense and threatening and at others a bit sweet. It had that teenage innocence to it. An innocence that we have taken from us. It’s that feeling that lets everything else breath. Our young cast is brilliant! Their performances are true and make the material which is itself rather good feel honest. This is a film I had almost no expectation for. What I got out of it was a good thriller that is a far better “origin of a serial killer” film than the ridiculous My Friend Dahmer. This has no pretense of making us want to like any of the characters and it is because of that that we kinda do.

Our Grade: A-, I honestly loved this! It’s a great mix of coming of age and modern thriller. It’s a beautifully dark film. One that sheds light on the nature of obsession and how a trauma can affect us differently. How that trauma can create how we deal with obsessions or push away people. There are deep seeded mental philosophies at work here. Director Kevin Phillips is great at building our characters and the music cues don’t give much away. As the story unfolds it takes turns we don’t see coming. The ending isn’t as tight as it should be but nonetheless, there were still surprises to be had there.