Rent Beneath the Dark (2010)

A slow burning film with few concessions made to the audience - mild spoilers. - Beneath the Dark review by NP

A fairly annoying couple Paul (Josh Stewart) and Adrienne (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) are driving to a wedding. He doesn’t appear to be paying much attention to the road as he drives and she seems lazily determined to stimulate him into sex. They pull into the roadside ‘Roy’s Motel’ where they meet weird Frank (Chris Browing) and his even stranger wife Sandy (Angela Featherstone). They decide that things are not quite as they seem.

Throughout the film, we learn more about why the characters are the way they are. We also meet an unblinking fellow guest who claims to be The Son of God (Afemo Omilami). Only I’m not sure things are even quite *that* simple.

The pace is extremely slow, and there is a murkiness to the effectively isolated location and the characters who stay within it. I get the impression that writer/director Chad Feehan isn’t interesting in telling an ordinary, linear, or straightforward story and clearly feels the audience should share that viewpoint. There are no concessions to those who might want ‘Beneath the Dark’ to get on with whatever it is trying to say, and there are generally few standout moments – at least the cast are all very convincing and keep a certain interest. It takes far too long and too many unsavoury events for Paul to reason that he and Adrienne should leave, but again, that doesn’t seem something we are encouraged to be bothered about. Perceived failings within the film’s structure and pace seem to be a deliberate artistic decision.