Hold The Dark (2018) ***

As with Jeremy Saulnier's two prior films, Blue Ruin (2013) and Green Room (2015) (review), Hold The Dark (2018) is another violent tale of vengeance and survival, but the tone is moodier and bleaker than ever. Saulnier's constant collaborator (as actor) Macon Blair penned the screenplay (and has a small role) in this story of a wolf expert (Jeffrey Wright) called to Alaska by a mother (Riley Keough) to track down the wolves who took her son. Her husband, played by Alexander Skarsgård, returns from the Iraq War and he's all kinds of disturbed. Fun connection: Alexander's father Stellan starred in the excellent 1997 Norwegian crime thriller Insomnia which Christopher Nolan repurposed to Alaska for his 2002 version (review).

Without spoiling anything, when a key plot point happens early on in HTD, the film goes in a different direction than expected. Yet nothing in HTD is revelatory—it's a definite slow burner that doesn't call attention to itself, save one explosive and tense gun fight. It's a film that raises a lot of questions but offers almost no answers (despite a scene where Wright says to another main character that they are there). The character development is slight, the film is too brooding/mumbly/hushed/self-serious for its own good, and the run time stretches longer than necessary. But it's still a good film, with solid performances, strong cinematography, and an eerie, atmospheric score by the other two Blair brothers, Brooke and Will, who've composed all of Saulnier's work. I just liked it a bit less on a rewatch and I'm not sure I'll need to revisit it additional times.

Jeremy Saulnier Feature Films Ranked