DARK AND STORMY – WHERE GORINESS DISGUISED AS CULTURE BY RICK PURDY
Written by Rick Purdy/ Reviewed by Biplab Das Dark and Stormy is a new-age horror. It has the quotient of a thriller with a travel story. The story has multiple facets and with time they unfold. It is interesting to have a film which starts with a simple travelogue and ends up such gory. It seems the writer of the film picked the words Dark and Stormy carefully. Dark signifies the sad and black side of content and Stormy because of the trouble faced by the two main characters of the film. Dark and Stormy is for the strong-hearted people. It depicts the darkest side of human nature in the name of restoring culture and religion. If you’re seeing bloodbath on screen this film will excite you. The film offers thrill from the exact beginning which stays on till the end. The story binds all the facets of the dark side of human nature. So if you want to explore them visually, Dark and Stormy is for you. My final suggestion and reminder, this film is not for the faint-hearted people. Dark and Stormy is written by Rick Purdy. Rick lives in New York. Interestingly, Rick picks Dark and Stormy through which he tells the story of corruption hidden behind the veil of customs and culture. The way he penned the story is remarkable. He turned a simple travel story into a tale of blood-fest. Rick gives a journey in which you slowly realize that something dark is going to happen but you can’t leave the film in midway. The hook he created is commendable. When you finish watching the film, you will realize why it is named as Dark and Stormy. It also takes courage and conviction to cover many areas in such a concise way. Rick did that successfully. The story of the film is that a pregnant lady, who works as a writer, travels to Bermuda an island with her husband. The husband works in advertising and they have a knack of traveling. They seem to be a happy couple. The mental and physical relationship between the two is top-notch. When they arrive at the island, they get welcomed by almost everyone they met. Their enjoyment increases as they start meeting new people. However, while meeting new people, they also start to get entangled in a complex web of corruption disguised as custom and culture of the island. As the film progresses, the intricacies start to increase and so the bloodbath. The goriness reaches the tipping point when they enter a church. A lot happens inside the church. There is also a flashback story in the film which deals with colonialism and the slave trade. The history of the slave trade emerged multiple times in the film. The way colonizers captured the island has been portrayed quite fascinatingly. The journey from Europe to the island in the 17th century is fascinatingly depicted by the writer. The film takes a sudden turn when the husband and wife enter the slave church and discovers people do cannibalism in the name of custom and culture. This gives a completely new turn to the film. What happens to both of them inside the church is the film is about. The cannibalism part makes the film distinct as it was unexpected at the beginning. In terms of storytelling, Dark and Story deal with multiple facets- the slave trade, cannibalism, religion, and more. This multi-faceted approach makes the film unique and re-watchable. Plot-wise the film has everything that you can expect from a thriller. As I mentioned earlier the cannibalism part is the tipping point of the film. The film takes a complete U-turn after the introduction of cannibalism. It seems the writer wanted to portray the dark side of human nature. And he is successful in that. The cannibalism part came to me as a shock. I’m sure when the audience will see it they will also be astonished. In short, Dark and Stormy is a true portrayal of the dark side of human nature.
