And Soon the Darkness

AND SOON THE DARKNESS (2010) - Dec. 22, 2010
An egregiously mediocre film about a couple of girls on vacation in backwater Argentina who find themselves in serious trouble when one of them is mysteriously abducted.  Seemingly cobbled together wholesale from about a dozen other movies, there isn't a single element here that feels original or fresh.  Of course, with a thriller like this, it's definitely possible to take a completely unoriginal premise and still do great things with it -- assuming that the film is well excecuted and exciting.  Alas, this was neither well executed or exciting.  Made without an ounce of originality or intelligence, the film was competently directed by Marcos Efron, who isn't the worst director ever, but who definitely lacks the finese to elevate a lacklustre screenplay such as this to anything particularly watchable.  There is really nothing here that particularly works -- the part establishing the two characters doesn't work, because both characters are empty cliches (the party girl and her uptight friend), the uptight friend's investigation is dull and pointless, because we're always two or three steps ahead of her, and the more action-heavy final fifteen minutes or so just feels perfunctory and anti-climactic.  Plus, all of the "twists" are almost laughably predictable (what?  That shady small-town cop was in on it all along?  NO WAY!).  It probably doesn't help that Efron is unwilling (or unable) to establish any kind of tension or suspense.   Blech.  *1/2