Dark Encounter Review

Defined as a science-fiction and horror film, Dark Encounter is set a year after 8-year-old Maisie mysteriously vanishes from her home. Her grieving family gather together to commemorate the occasion until strange lights seemingly terrorize the group in their home and surrounding woodland.

This film begins to feel like a somewhat stereotypical thriller in which extraterrestrials appear to invade and abduct individuals. However, the plot takes an unpredictable and surprising twist at the last minute, providing the family with much-needed closure.

The bizarre events come as the family are at their most raw and vulnerable. The abrupt disappearance of Maisie has stripped back the relationships between key characters including Father and son, Ray (Mel Raido) and Noah (Spike White), whilst also affecting the bond between Ray and wife, Olivia (Laura Fraser). As parents of Maisie, Ray and Olivia are very much torn, with an evolved relationship that leaves both milling about in thoughtful solitude - especially Olivia who remains relatively quite throughout the film.

However, odd turn of events finally give the family the answers they so desperately crave and they finally learn what happened to Maisie the fateful day she went missing.

Although the thriller begins as a suspecting alien invasion, with colourful orbs decorating the night sky, the disappearance of central characters, and the soft scares of a home under attack, this film is more likened to Peter Jackson's 2009 movie, The Lovely Bones or 2012 TV drama, The Secret of Crickley Hall. It is a film that focuses on the disturbing tale of a missing child, but eventually provides a broken family with closure, using a supernatural element to guide them towards the truth. Just like The Lovely Bones and The Secret of Crickley Hall, it is a dark and chilling story about loss but with a supernatural and spiritual element woven in that surprisingly binds the family together and gifts them with the chance to say goodbye. 

This gripping film from Carl Strathie is one that is unpredictable and unique. It is ultimately a tragic story about loss and a fractured family who journey to rediscover who they are and what they mean to each other - it just so happens to have aliens in it.