Star Cast: Ella Rubin, Michael Cimino, Odessa A’zion, Ji-young Yoo, Belmont Cameli
Director: David F Sandberg
Until Dawn Movie Review Synopsis:
UNTIL DAWN is the story of a group of friends stuck in a time loop. Melanie (Maia Mitchell) disappears all of a sudden, leading her sister Clover (Ella Rubin) to become depressed and suicidal. A year later, she decides to trace her journey, hoping to find some answers. She is joined by her ex-boyfriend Max (Michael Cimino), friends Nina (Odessa A’zion) and Megan (Ji-young Yoo) and Nina’s boyfriend Abel (Belmont Cameli). They reach the town from where Melanie sent a video message, the last form of communication from her side. Enquiries from a local resident revealed that a lot of people have been reported to have disappeared from a place uphill called Glore Valley. Clover and her friends head to this place. They reach a beautifully designed abandoned house in the middle of nowhere called ‘Welcome Center’. The friends enter the house and suddenly, they get attacked by a vicious monster. All get killed. In no time, they find themselves being alive. Soon, it comes to light that they are stuck in an endless time loop. Each time, they are being killed in different ways by the faceless villains. However, they don’t have unlimited lives and at some point, they’ll have to succeed in defeating the villains. Or else, they’ll be stuck in the hell hole forever. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
Until Dawn Movie Story Review:
UNTIL DAWN is based on a video game of the same name. Blair Butler and Gary Dauberman’s story is hatke. There have been films on time loop before but this one stands out. Blair Butler and Gary Dauberman’s screenplay is captivating but also has its share of minuses. The dialogues are conversational.
David F Sandberg’s direction is okay. He does justice to the eerie setting and character development. He also manages to induce fear. Several scenes have absolutely no background music or any kind of noise. It adds to the scare value. A few scenes are also funny and it helps break the tension.
On the flipside, though the concept is novel, the film doesn’t entice as intended. The protagonists, from the very start, are aware that the place is unsafe and mysterious – it is raining everywhere else around except the area where the house is located. Any sane person would have escaped. But these characters, instead, chose to explore the house! Moreover, there are scenes where they don’t seem to be that terrified of the situation they are in. Moreover, it is bewildering that none of the earlier victims ever succeeded in getting out of the loop. All of them seem to have ventured alone to the place. One of the victims is a child; how they all turn up at the place is not explained. Lastly, the villain track is also confusing and the way things happen at convenience in the end is difficult to digest. It seemed like the makers wanted to just finish the film soon.
Until Dawn Movie Review Performances:
Ella Rubin plays the lead role with panache. Michael Cimino is impressive. Ji-young Yoo gets to play a very fascinating character and she does well. Odessa A’zion and Belmont Cameli lend able support. Maia Mitchell is okay in a cameo. Peter Stormare (Alan Hill) leaves a mark.
Until Dawn movie music and other technical aspects:
Benjamin Wallfisch’s music is minimal and impactful. Maxime Alexandre’s cinematography is satisfactory. Jennifer Spence’s production design adds to the horror element. Julia Patkos’s costumes are glamorous yet realistic. Michel Aller’s editing is functional.
Until Dawn Movie Review Conclusion:
On the whole, UNTIL DAWN piques interest with its novel concept and promising setup. However, the potential is impacted due to inconsistent writing and underdeveloped execution.