Maidgethma Wonderfully offbeat film!

Palaest recommended

Helloturia I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

kking-68641 They did a great job depicting the most extreme socially awkward teens, I was cringing on behalf of the main characters quite often. They did a good job with the nostalgic details too - the bikes, the screensaver that was my first screensaver as a kid (almost as fun to watch that as it was to play the games.) Otherwise it's all messed-up kids making messed-up decisions. The movie was a bit slow sometimes but it added some tension so it's all good. The only problem is I didn't enjoy it at all. I wanted sometime more than one or two touches of 'awe I recognize that' and an hour and a half of alternating between cringing from awkwardness and cringing from pain. I felt like I was a kid again, walking four blocks barefoot down a blazing hot gravel road to find out the store is closed and I have to walk home again with nothing but blistered feet. Well-made suffering is still not pleasant if it gains you nothing in the end. Would not endure again.

tfminfl So last flick I watched was pretty dark, I gave it the ye old thumbs up, next thing I know I go on YouTube, under videos you may like had Dark Titles on Netflix You May Enjoy, coincidence? Yea OK, 'they' watch our every move. So back to this... It was a brutal movie for sure. Zach and Josh are two high school best friends, the tell each other everything kind, and well one day while hanging out with two other friends, things go way south way fast. Things were a total accident, however, certain other factors lead to panic and an unwise choice. We follow mainly Zach's story, as he tries to keep things normal, but inside is going through total hell. And as Zach tries to stay connected with Josh, well, lets say Josh takes things quite a bit differently than his bff Zach. A well acted movie filled with fresh faces and a dark story that'll keep you freaked out til the end. The really really freaky part in this one...takes place in early 90's... no cell phones, weirdness.

dividedbyzach-863-786377 Ugh. So many missed opportunities. So many unanswered questions. Such a shame, because this film had so much potential: Beautiful location, nice camera work, fine young actors. The action is inexplicably set in 1992 (another wasted opportunity) and a character is introduced who is so annoying (Is he autistic? Is he obnoxious on purpose?) that you're almost relieved when he dies. So now we've got the makings of a tight little coming of age neo-noir, right? Nope. The film meanders along for quite awhile before it occurs to you that THERE"S NO STORY! What was the motivation for the "murders"? Did he even do it? Why? What was the weed connection? What happened on the bridge? Things are so casually mentioned and never explained that by the conclusion (How did he survive multiple point blank stabbings??) you're just relieved that it's over.I kept watching, hoping it would get better, but it just didn't. I hope this director hammers out a better story and script before he makes his next film, because he clearly has talent that was wasted on this film.

Michael Kleen (makleen2) In Super Dark Times (2017), a teen must come to grips with his increasingly psychotic friend in this harrowing and tense coming-of-age thriller. Written by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, and directed by Kevin Phillips, this indie film's competency highlights why Hollywood is failing. Younger, more creative filmmakers are using technology and innovation to craft solid, beautifully-rendered films that put big-budget studios to shame.Director Kevin Phillips is mostly known for his short film cinematography, and he's spent the past twelve years honing his craft. Nearly every scene in this film is beautiful, but it's not another example of "style over substance." The movie is structurally sound, competently written, and the dialogue is believable. It reminds me of films from the '80s and early '90s, which tried to ground fantastic or extreme situations in reality.As Super Dark Times opens, a buck has accidentally crashed into a high school and severely injured itself. Two police officers clear the scene and put it down. This dramatic and brutal scene sets the tone for the rest of the film. Enter four acquaintances, childhood friends Zach (Owen Campbell) and Josh (Charlie Tahan), Daryl (Max Talisman), and an 8th-grader named Charlie (Sawyer Barth). Zach and Josh both have a crush on classmate Allison (Elizabeth Cappuccino), but she eventually chooses Zach.The kids discover a bag of marijuana and a samurai sword in Josh's brother's bedroom and take it to a park to mess around. Josh and Daryl get into an argument and Josh accidentally stabs him in the neck, killing him. The teens hide Daryl's body in the woods and try to forget about the crime, but Josh's increasingly erratic behavior stokes Zach's guilt and paranoia. The film's sickening climax is disturbing and difficult to watch, but the entire film has you on edge from start to finish.Super Dark Times is in many ways a typical coming-of-age film, but unlike Superbad (2007), which shares a deceptively similar name, it is far from the raunchy comedy we've come to expect. Like Stand by Me (1986), it subverts the genre and takes it to a much darker place.The movie was filmed in Kingston, New York along the Hudson River in autumn. The picturesque and quiet setting perfectly contrasts with the brutal violence. My favorite scenes, however, were very wide shots of the teens riding their bikes down a deserted street. The audio is crystal clear, but they seem swallowed up by the background. Their smallness re-emphasizes their age and place in the world.If I had one criticism, it would be that the female characters are underdeveloped and serve mostly as pretty window dressing to move the plot along. They have no agency or motives of their own. Prior to this film, Elizabeth Cappuccino had appeared in two TV shows and short films, including Jessica Jones. I would have liked to see her play a more challenging role.Super Dark Times stars several talented young actors. This is Max Talisman's first full-length film and he performs admirably as what would normally be the chubby comic relief. Charlie Tahan and Owen Campbell have much more experience under their belts, but all come across authentically.Super Dark Times is not a perfect movie, but it's not trying to be. Its simple authenticity comes across more like a documentary than a feature film, and its style takes you back to the early '90s without overtly playing on nostalgia. Besides Detroit, it was one of the few truly captivating films of 2017.