5/10

Gillian Flynn’s second novel adaptation to the big screen is an obvious departure from the edge of your seat mystery that was ‘Gone Girl’. 25 years after testifying against her brother as the person responsible for massacring her entire family, a mentally tortured woman, Libby Day (Charlize Theron) on the brink of bankruptcy is approached by a secret society that specializes in complex, unsolved cases. With a new look into the case that changed her life, Libby is forced to to see things a little different from the way it all went down that night in Missouri. Flynn is one of my current favorite authors, and Dark Places is my second favorite book in her trilogy, and while the film does remain faithful narratively to the contents of it’s literature, it lacks the emotional depth for it’s characters in a monotonous haze, as well as plagues itself with a big screen debut of an inexperienced director (Gilles Brenner) whose creativity came up a little short for such great content. The film remained on the shelf in post production hell for over a year, and it’s painfully obvious that Flynn fans were destined to be disappointed when inevitably comparing this film to the 2014 smash hit that was ‘Gone Girl’. Most noticeably missing is an infective score that always keeps the audience smoothly moving in transitional scenes of past and present in the film’s storytelling. The mood in this film feels very rigid, complete with somber acting from many of it’s leads. Theron is decent in the role. I had doubts originally about her in the role of Libby, but i feel like it was one of the only things done right about the adaptation. While it never feels on screen that Libby reaches a transformation from beginning to end, Theron makes the most despite playing against one-note emotions for the entire film. Nicholas Hoult didn’t really add much to the film, and i feel like some more scenes between he and Libby could’ve really established his care for the traumatized girl. The obvious missing of the secret society after only one scene is also something that negatively impacts the lack of supporting characters that could’ve helped in taking some of the load off of it’s protagonist. If the film does anything good, it’s in the guessing for an audience not familiar with the novel. People who don’t know what to expect might not feel as obligated to stay true to the book because there is enough intrigue in the mystery of these characters and the revolving wheel of revelations that hits them one at a time. There is some convenience to the way things are tied up, and i personally wish some of the elements of character on-screen time in the film wasn’t as obvious in determining the end result when the bombshell drops. It is an alright film, but disappointing in the aspects of how long fans of the novel waited for this film to see the light of day. The longer you wait, the more you expect, and Dark Places shows more creative light in it’s pages rather than on screen.