User Reviews

A young lesbian couple embark on a boat trip in the lochs of Scotland. Before long they sense that hostile locals may be out to antagonise them.

The Dark Mile combines a domestic drama thread about a couple going through some difficulties, in particular a recent failed pregnancy, with the horror/thriller idea of urban people out of their comfort zone in a place populated by sinister locals. The biggest issue it has is that is doesn't make enough of the latter story element, with the horror side just too underplayed. The idea of strange cults and mysterious inhabitants in rural areas is not a new idea but it's one with plenty of scope for thrills and chills. In this case there are a few recurring ominous characters in the periphery of the story but they don't in all honesty add up to very much and never seem to pose as much of a threat as they should, while the idea of the sinister black boat in pursuit of the girls was one with a lot of potential, the film-makers never really ran with it very far. On the other hand, the idea of having a lesbian couple the centre of the story was a good one, and something that is still sadly quite unusual. As I said, their personal drama compromised too much of the run-time at the expense of the suspense but the combining of one of the girl's pregnancy traumas with various interconnected fertility images showed some ambition at least. The setting is often quite beautifully photographed and there is some atmosphere at times but on the whole this one doesn't make the most of its set up.

As is the trend (I say "trend".....more of a set in stone, fact of life, unalterable necessity of modern film), the whole thing is filmed in Stygian gloom. Even those scenes set in broad daylight are dark, miserable gloomy affairs. Then there's the almost constant flashbacks of IVF procedures, stags, some dreary arch-pagan pub sign. Tedious, unnecessary and a naff way to fill the gaps left in the equally tedious narrative. The scenery, when it is shown, could be Scotland, may be Ireland....doesn't matter, one is allowed only occasional glimpses. Gloomy glimpses, if you will. Sheila Hancock is ok. Never seen the rest. They all struggle with creating any form of tension. They also mumble to the extent that most of the dialogue between the two leads is just lost to the other. The director, who uses "suspenseful" music liberally and.....far more often than not....in the wrong place, fails to keep this piffle going anywhere. This is catastrophic film-making. Far too dark to see anything, mumbling actresses, rubbish story, drunken direction, clumsy rentascript. Please avoid.

There are a lot of things to enjoy in "The dark mile", such as majestic yet sombre images of Scotland at its most desolate and forbidding. (The movie also introduced me to a real-life monument which I did not know existed. Now THIS is going to keep me in nightmares for years.) The movie also contains some beautifully constructed scare moments, just as it contains a beautifully evoked mood of uncertainty and threat. The references to pagan myth are cleverly done, too.

The viewer even gets a nicely satirical theme about smart-phone addicts who "communicate" with half the world, except with their nearest and dearest.

Sadly, the movie finds it difficult to tell a convincing story in a clear, cohesive, forceful way. It also finds it difficult to speak with its own distinctive voice. Watch the scene where the ship of the protagonists meets with, and is pursued by, a great big black barge which looks strangely faceless and anonymous - and then tell me if this doesn't look like Spielberg's "Duel", Scottish waterways edition. (At this moment it will also become clear that Spielberg was far better at creating memorable opponents and at filming pursuit scenes.)

The protagonists are a lesbian couple (nice), who, for once, are not there only in order to provide the male viewer with porn (very nice indeed). On the other hand it is doubtful whether the LGTB community will consider the movie a triumph, since the relationship depicted is far from happy. When not near-quarreling or giving each other the cold shoulder, both halves of the couple spend much of their time gazing into the distance while struggling with trauma. Mutual communication has dwindled to the point, where one half of the couple can arrange a holiday without the partner knowing (or agreeing to) the general outlines of the arrangement. If this is all love can offer in terms in transcendent rapture, sensual delight or even basic comfort and joy, why bother ?