“The Mist” is directed by Frank Darabont and it stars Thomas
Jane, Marcia Gay Harden and Laurie Holden amongst others. This review contains
spoilers. Massive spoilers.
After
a powerful storm damages their Maine home, David Drayton played by Thomas Jane
and his young son head into town to gather food and supplies. Soon afterward, a
thick fog rolls in and engulfs the town, trapping the Draytons and others in
the grocery store. Terror mounts as deadly creatures reveal themselves outside,
but that may be nothing compared to the threat within, where a religious
fanatic played by Marcia Gay Harden calls for a sacrifice.
“The
Mist” is written by Stephen King and once again the duo Darabont/King come to
play. It’s safe to say that this film is a lot more than just about deadly
creatures in a mist waiting to kill you if you venture outside. The real
strength of this film is in what happens inside the grocery store where
everyone is trapped in. How anarchy slowly creeps in bringing the best and the
worst in people. It’s like a small portrait of modern day society and all its
issues compressed into a few characters. Even though these stereotypical
characters exist they aren’t as 2 dimensional as one might expect. It’s quite
the opposite and it’s part of the reason why “The Mist” is a great film. All
the characters do a lot more than just represent a part of society or an
ideology. It’s mostly great writing,
acting and directing that does the trick.
“The
Mist”’s high concept is very strong. A creepy mist filled with deadly creatures
engulfs a small town trapping people inside a grocery store. The face value of
this storyline alone is worth watching. It’s great entertainment all the way
through. But as I mentioned before the nail biting moments do not involve
deadly mist creatures. The real villain in this film is portrayed by Marcia Gay
Harden. The religious fanatic who is convinced that what’s happening is God’s
punishment on Mankind. And it’s very clever how this character seems harmless
at first but slowly manages to spread her influence as the film progresses. For
me it works as a great metaphor for the relationship Man has with Faith. It’s
really very simple. The fear of the unknown is what feeds religion and this
film makes that quite obvious. This
fanatical character manages to convince more and more people to join her
beliefs as the situation gets worse and worse. This equation is very basic and
frighteningly accurate and as old as religion itself. At one point in the film,
Marcia Gay Harden is ready to kill anyone who opposes her beliefs. It’s an easy
parallel to what we’re witnessing almost every day with terrorism in western
societies. Ignorance and fear leads to stupidity. Period.
At
the other end of the spectrum is the more level headed protagonist. Thomas
Jane’s David Drayton and his small group of followers, equally grounded and
lucid. Well as much as you can be in a situation like that. “The Mist” does a
wonderful job pacing its story and slowly speeding up the plot points and heading
to a direction you might think you know but you really don’t. David Drayton is the audience, we’re right
there with him every step of the way. We share the journey with him. Like in any
clever film, “The Mist” isn’t too worried with why things are happening but a
lot more concerned with how the characters are reacting to this bizarre
reality. You never really understand what the mist is or what the creatures in
it are. You are given hints but not much more. And it’s not important. In fact
it would destroy or at the very least lessen the impact of the whole religious
fanatic storyline if we did have a clear explanation. Even though we the
audience never really relate to the crazy woman it’s always interesting to keep
open the possibility that she might be right. Knowing what was really going on
with the mist would transform the script into something else it never intended
to be. The depiction of anarchy taking over in a crisis situation is, for me,
the core of this film. The creatures and the mist are mere catalysts of a much
stronger plot. It’s the same formula I find appealing in “The Walking Dead” for
instance. I don’t watch that show for the zombies. I watch it for the
characters and how they react to the overwhelming circumstances. “The Mist” is
exactly the same. It’s not a coincidence that Darabont is behind “The Walking
Dead” as well. In fact you will find a couple of familiar faces from the show
in this film. I might even go a little further and state that “The Walking
Dead” is Darabont exploring this theme even further. What he couldn’t do in a 2
hour film he can in television show. The parallels seem undeniable.
The
most memorable moment of the film is the ending. It’s the film’s biggest
water-cooler moment and the scene every single person will remember the film
for. The difference that 5 minutes can make in your life can’t be better shown
than in this final scene. With four remaining characters in a car, including
David and his son, all venturing in the mist to seek help and understand what’s
happening, you have the setting for the finale. They all decide to commit
suicide believing it’s the only way out. All hope is lost. The mist seems to
have taken over civilization and they seem to be surrounded by creatures. They
have a gun with only 3 bullets in it so David shoots the other three including
his son and then walks out of the car to be devoured by the creatures. To his
surprise, moments later we see the military showing up, dead creatures and the
mist disappearing. It obviously becomes the most frustrating moment anyone can
experience. If only they had waited a few more minutes all would be ok. It’s
one of the best and most shocking endings I can recall in a film and it’s
emotionally shattering to watch. Thomas Jane delivers a groundbreaking performance
in that scene but I’ll get to that a bit later.
I recently read a title for one of those top 10 things you see all over
the place. And this one was called “Top Ten Movies Where the Bad Guys Win” or
something along those lines. “The Mist” was on this list. I don’t agree. I
don’t think the bad guys won. In fact, the film clearly shows the opposite. You
see many people have survived. The suicide was a choice they all made. It’s not
the same as having them all killed by the mist. Again, the mist is not
important. The characters and their choices is what matters and is the recipe
for the film’s finale. If only…. If only they had waited 5… 10 more minutes.
But how could they have known? The only reason David walked out of the car was
to die which in turn lead to the discovery that the situation was under
control. It’s a tragedy beyond measure. It’s a scene that will remain with us
and in film history for a long time.
This
is what makes “The Mist” unforgettable for anyone who watches it. The ending. Not
because it’s a an elaborate twist like say “The Sixth Sense” but because it’s
truly shocking and you can’t help but immediately relate to David and imagine
how horrible it must be to be in his shoes in that situation. It’s truly a
killer ending.
Much
like most things Frank Darabont has done, “The Mist” is an extremely solid
film. Darabont is a remarkable director and his wonderful work with actors is
very apparent. His style of directing is one I very much relate to. His
storytelling is very classic and refined.
He’s always more concerned with telling a good story and getting a
powerful performance than with overly elaborate shots. I like directors who
trust the material they have and don’t feel the need to compensate anything
with over the top cinematography or with elaborate sound design or “creative”
editing unless the story asks for it. With that said I don’t mean Darabont’s
staging of scenes and shot compositions are basic. Quite the opposite. It’s
just that it’s all very subtle and effective and that, for me, beats a super
elaborate Michael Bayish flying tracking shot any day of the week. It’s
discrete but highly effective work. “The Mist” is very straight forward and
unpretentious at every level. Keeping it simple and to the point is what this
film does best.
I
really just want to talk about two actors in this film. Not that the remaining
cast isn’t good it’s just that these two actors clearly steal the show.
The
first one is obvious and it’s Thomas Jane with the leading role. Much like
Darabont, Thomas Jane cruises through this film effortlessly delivering a very
solid performance which peaks when it has to. At the end of the film. But even
before that as I mentioned before, Thomas Jane’s David represents the audience
so, while obviously active throughout the film, he’s also very observant and
like the audience he’s witnessing things slowly falling apart. Thomas Janes
does a wonderful job with this role and the final scene is the cherry on top.
It’s a truly remarkable moment and without his priceless contribution you would
not have such a powerful ending. Believe me, Thomas Jane does half the work in
making that scene work as well as it does.
My
second mention is fairly obvious as well I think. Marcia Gay Harden. I think
this is one the films I most enjoy watching her. She is absolutely brilliant as
the religious nutcase. A role that could have easily been overacted but isn’t
because it’s in the hands of a very gifted and competent actress. She’s so good
in it that I truly hate her and want to punch her face in while watching the
movie. That’s how good she is. It’s really not Marcia Gay Harden at any point.
It’s someone you want to see shot dead and it’s so good when it finally
happens. I don’t think there is a better way of complementing her work than
saying what I just said. It’s a very demanding role and it’s demanding because
of what I said before. It can easily be overplayed and finding the sweet spot
isn’t an easy task. Of course credit is due to Darabont as well but what is a
director without a fantastic actor or actress to play out his fantasies right?
Even if you hate everything else about this film it’s always worth
watching Marcia Gay Harden drive
everyone insane inside that grocery store.
So to
sum it up, “The Mist” is a great film, unmissable even. If only for that ending
alone. Although I understand why it’s classified as a horror film I don’t think
it’s really a horror film. It’s more of a drama to me and a great one too. One
thing I did notice while watching it recently was the dated CGI it has. It’s
really the only thing the film suffers a bit from. But even then it’s only
apparent in a few shots. The rest still works very well. It’s just a bit
frustrating that such a great film has one or two shots that just don’t work
technically and you clearly notice the dodgy CGI breaking the mood a bit.
If
you are watching this spoiler filled review of “The Mist” I can only assume you
have seen it. I hope this encourages you to watch it again because it
definitely deserves more attention. It’s a great film and it’s one of those
movies I’ll always watch from time to time even if just to study and learn more
and more about the craft of filmmaking.
Have
a wonderful day!
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