Spoiler Alert: This story contains spoilers for “Out of Darkness,” now playing in theaters.
About an hour into “Out of Darkness,” an Old Stone Age monster movie from first-time feature director Andrew Cumming, comes a shocking reveal: It’s not a monster movie at all.
The film, released in theaters Feb. 9, follows a tribe of people living on a desolate Scottish island 45,000 years ago who find themselves prey to a mysterious enemy that picks them off one by one. When 11-year-old Heron suddenly vanishes into the night, the tribe ventures into the forest to find him. Taking a page from “Jaws” and “Alien,” Cumming restrained himself from showing the antagonist until it became absolutely necessary, when it’s finally revealed that the menacing beast that’s hunting the tribe turns out to be human.
More specifically, it’s a pair of Neanderthals, who coexisted with Homo sapiens in Western Europe...
About an hour into “Out of Darkness,” an Old Stone Age monster movie from first-time feature director Andrew Cumming, comes a shocking reveal: It’s not a monster movie at all.
The film, released in theaters Feb. 9, follows a tribe of people living on a desolate Scottish island 45,000 years ago who find themselves prey to a mysterious enemy that picks them off one by one. When 11-year-old Heron suddenly vanishes into the night, the tribe ventures into the forest to find him. Taking a page from “Jaws” and “Alien,” Cumming restrained himself from showing the antagonist until it became absolutely necessary, when it’s finally revealed that the menacing beast that’s hunting the tribe turns out to be human.
More specifically, it’s a pair of Neanderthals, who coexisted with Homo sapiens in Western Europe...
- 2/10/2024
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
Between apocalyptic disaster films and cosmic terrors à la Lovecraft, the horror genre has the theoretical end of humanity pretty well covered. But what about its beginning?
In Andrew Cumming’s magnificent directorial debut “Out of Darkness,” the filmmaker reverses at full speed into the unknown with an imaginative and gruesome wilderness thriller tracking a group of nomads living 45,000 years ago. Part prehistoric “Prey,” part agnostic spin on The Book of Genesis, the film was written by Ruth Greenberg, and premiered under the more sci-fi sounding title “The Origin” at the BFI Film Festival in 2022. The moniker change is just the latest in a line of nuanced creative decisions that makes this ferocious 87-minute monster movie a testament to meticulous storytelling: a scrupulous feat made even more effective by the film’s use of Stone Age brutality and stark narrative simplicity.
Shot in the Scottish Highlands, this existential campfire story...
In Andrew Cumming’s magnificent directorial debut “Out of Darkness,” the filmmaker reverses at full speed into the unknown with an imaginative and gruesome wilderness thriller tracking a group of nomads living 45,000 years ago. Part prehistoric “Prey,” part agnostic spin on The Book of Genesis, the film was written by Ruth Greenberg, and premiered under the more sci-fi sounding title “The Origin” at the BFI Film Festival in 2022. The moniker change is just the latest in a line of nuanced creative decisions that makes this ferocious 87-minute monster movie a testament to meticulous storytelling: a scrupulous feat made even more effective by the film’s use of Stone Age brutality and stark narrative simplicity.
Shot in the Scottish Highlands, this existential campfire story...
- 2/9/2024
- by Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
Plot: In the Old Stone Age, a disparate gang of early humans band together in search of a new land. But when they suspect a malevolent, mystical being is hunting them down, the clan are forced to confront a danger they never envisaged.
Review: When choosing a debut film, it takes a certain amount of cajónes to choose one set during the Paleolithic era. Just from a budget standpoint, the task seems impossible. But add in the difficulties of getting an audience to connect with your story, and it seems like something only a crazy person would do. But somehow director Andrew Cumming really pulls it off. In fact, I was shocked to discover that this was made by a first-timer because there’s such a command of the screen. Though, I’d argue that Out of Darkness is more of a story of survival than a straight-up horror film.
Review: When choosing a debut film, it takes a certain amount of cajónes to choose one set during the Paleolithic era. Just from a budget standpoint, the task seems impossible. But add in the difficulties of getting an audience to connect with your story, and it seems like something only a crazy person would do. But somehow director Andrew Cumming really pulls it off. In fact, I was shocked to discover that this was made by a first-timer because there’s such a command of the screen. Though, I’d argue that Out of Darkness is more of a story of survival than a straight-up horror film.
- 2/8/2024
- by Tyler Nichols
- JoBlo.com
Stars: Chuku Modu, Luna Mwezi, Iola Evans, Kit Young, Arno Lüning, Safia Oakley-Green | Written by Ruth Greenberg | Directed by Andrew Cumming
I can almost imagine Out of Darkness’ director Andrew Cumming pitching the film to potential backers as Quest for Fire meets Predator. And that would be a fairly accurate description of this Stone Age thriller about a tribe of early humans being picked off by an unseen foe. And one that makes it sound a lot less cerebral and more commercial than it might otherwise appear.
45,000 years ago, six early humans have left their tribe to find a new home. Leading the group is Adem, who also has his young son Heron and Ave who’s carrying Adem’s child along with him. Also making the trek are Geirr, Adem’s more cautious second-in-command and Odal’s who seems to be some kind of shaman and last, and certainly least,...
I can almost imagine Out of Darkness’ director Andrew Cumming pitching the film to potential backers as Quest for Fire meets Predator. And that would be a fairly accurate description of this Stone Age thriller about a tribe of early humans being picked off by an unseen foe. And one that makes it sound a lot less cerebral and more commercial than it might otherwise appear.
45,000 years ago, six early humans have left their tribe to find a new home. Leading the group is Adem, who also has his young son Heron and Ave who’s carrying Adem’s child along with him. Also making the trek are Geirr, Adem’s more cautious second-in-command and Odal’s who seems to be some kind of shaman and last, and certainly least,...
- 2/7/2024
- by Jim Morazzini
- Nerdly
Movies about Stone Age life have been so few that just one past effort could be taken seriously, the rest being funny — intentionally or otherwise. Belatedly offering non-laughable companionship to Jean-Jacques Annaud’s 1981 “Quest for Fire” is “Out of Darkness,” a lean, mean adventure story on the cusp of horror that firsttime feature director Andrew Cumming imbues with tension and handsome visual atmospherics.
Titled “The Origin” when it premiered at BFI London Fest in fall 2022, since retitled (presumably to avoid confusion with Ava DuVernay’s current “Origin”), it’s a strong genre piece lent real novelty by being set approximately 45,000 years ago. Bleecker Street opens the U.K. indie production on more than 500 U.S. screens this Friday, simultaneous with a home-turf release.
We meet our protagonists around a campfire — unlike those of “Quest,” set circa 80,000 B.C., these prehistoric ancestors have figured that much out — as they air hopes...
Titled “The Origin” when it premiered at BFI London Fest in fall 2022, since retitled (presumably to avoid confusion with Ava DuVernay’s current “Origin”), it’s a strong genre piece lent real novelty by being set approximately 45,000 years ago. Bleecker Street opens the U.K. indie production on more than 500 U.S. screens this Friday, simultaneous with a home-turf release.
We meet our protagonists around a campfire — unlike those of “Quest,” set circa 80,000 B.C., these prehistoric ancestors have figured that much out — as they air hopes...
- 2/5/2024
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
The elemental tale of man versus nature is one that we’ve been telling since the days of cave paintings. The tale of man versus a big, scary creature has been one of that tradition’s most reliably entertaining iterations since the dawn of Hollywood, and Andrew Cumming’s Stone Age thriller Out of Darkness makes for a worthy addition.
The film is set 45,000 years ago. After making a daring journey across the sea, a small band of Stone Agers have arrived in an unfamiliar place that they hope to call home. Sadly, this place isn’t the land of milk, honey, and warm, cozy caves that they’d been dreaming of. Rather, it’s a gray and barren place where rough, rocky hills seem to roll out endlessly in all directions. It makes for a dispiriting landscape during the day, and it’s even worse when darkness falls and...
The film is set 45,000 years ago. After making a daring journey across the sea, a small band of Stone Agers have arrived in an unfamiliar place that they hope to call home. Sadly, this place isn’t the land of milk, honey, and warm, cozy caves that they’d been dreaming of. Rather, it’s a gray and barren place where rough, rocky hills seem to roll out endlessly in all directions. It makes for a dispiriting landscape during the day, and it’s even worse when darkness falls and...
- 2/4/2024
- by Ross McIndoe
- Slant Magazine
Andrew Cumming’s feature directorial debut, The Origin, executes its high concept with impressive ambition. Not only does it travel back 45,000 years in time to tell the survival thriller, but Cummings and screenwriter Ruth Greenberg developed a fictional language for its characters. Combined with a handsomely shot production, it ensures that The Origin beguiles, though it struggles to mine suspense from its thrills and falters in the destination.
The Origin introduces six early human settlers in the midst of an arduous journey to find new land. They’ve traveled countless miles across desolate tundras, with food scarce and the elements harsh. As they approach a forest, it becomes clear that something is watching, stalking, and preying upon them one by one.
Cummings and Greenberg introduce this unique world and its characters around a campfire, establishing the merciless way of life and how it shapes its Stone Age inhabitants. Adem (Chuku Modu) is the Alpha male,...
The Origin introduces six early human settlers in the midst of an arduous journey to find new land. They’ve traveled countless miles across desolate tundras, with food scarce and the elements harsh. As they approach a forest, it becomes clear that something is watching, stalking, and preying upon them one by one.
Cummings and Greenberg introduce this unique world and its characters around a campfire, establishing the merciless way of life and how it shapes its Stone Age inhabitants. Adem (Chuku Modu) is the Alpha male,...
- 9/23/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Stone age horrors will be unleashed in the upcoming The Origin, an intriguing new horror project that Bleecker Street is bringing to the ongoing Fantastic Fest this weekend.
Bleecker Street recently acquired North American rights on the upcoming horror film, which is set during the Palaeolithic period – 45,000 years in the past!
We’ve been told, “It’s a tense, emotional, and incredibly crafted film; so much creativity went into making the paleolithic world – including the entire language spoken in the film, which was created specifically for this by a linguist and an archaeologist.”
Preview The Origin with a gallery of exclusive first-look images below.
In The Origin, “A small boat reaches the shores of a raw and desolate landscape. A group of six have struggled across the narrow sea to find a new home. They are starving, desperate, and living 45,000 years ago. First they must find shelter, and they strike...
Bleecker Street recently acquired North American rights on the upcoming horror film, which is set during the Palaeolithic period – 45,000 years in the past!
We’ve been told, “It’s a tense, emotional, and incredibly crafted film; so much creativity went into making the paleolithic world – including the entire language spoken in the film, which was created specifically for this by a linguist and an archaeologist.”
Preview The Origin with a gallery of exclusive first-look images below.
In The Origin, “A small boat reaches the shores of a raw and desolate landscape. A group of six have struggled across the narrow sea to find a new home. They are starving, desperate, and living 45,000 years ago. First they must find shelter, and they strike...
- 9/22/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
The Highlands of Scotland are the perfect backdrop for Andrew Cumming’s prehistoric genre piece Out of Darkness, a survivalist horror that also works as a thoughtful human drama as its core cast of six fight for their lives against a violent, unseen creature. The Origin had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival.
The setting is 45,000 years ago, and a landing party led by Adem (Chuku Modu) washes up at the shore of what they hope to be the promised land. It is, however, a false dawn: the soil is barren, and the group needs to stay on the move if they are to survive. But as they do so, the terrain becomes more forbidding — wide open plains and claustrophobic forests —and something terrifying is on their trail, making nightfall especially tense.
There are plenty of parallels with other movies, notably John Carpenter’s The Thing, Out of Darkness...
The setting is 45,000 years ago, and a landing party led by Adem (Chuku Modu) washes up at the shore of what they hope to be the promised land. It is, however, a false dawn: the soil is barren, and the group needs to stay on the move if they are to survive. But as they do so, the terrain becomes more forbidding — wide open plains and claustrophobic forests —and something terrifying is on their trail, making nightfall especially tense.
There are plenty of parallels with other movies, notably John Carpenter’s The Thing, Out of Darkness...
- 10/8/2022
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
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