I usually don't like to see movies about teens or kids because the dialogues tend to be silly and overacting is usually present in most scenes. This is the reason why I stopped watching Stranger Things, I couldn't stand the silliness.
In Super Dark Times, the characters all attend school so they are very young but the real-life actors are older than that, with the exception of one secondary character. The only cast member I was able to recognize was Charlie Tahan because he also participates in the Ozark series, a crime masterpiece available in Netflix. The rest of the cast were actors and actresses that I haven't seen before.
The setting is the following one, we have 2 good friends, a third one who is a fatty and very annoying, and a younger one who goes to a different school. The story is set in the 90s in a small town where kids can easily walk to each other houses and go and have fun in the woods.
One day, these 4 dudes were hanging out, and just by looking at the attitude of one of them, any viewer will be able to see something bad is about to happen. From this moment onwards, the lives of the teens will never be the same again. What I didn't like is the silliness of a particular character at this very moment. However, I guess having irrational outbursts is common in most teens.
What happens next is when the movie finally becomes a psychological thriller, in the beginning, it was just teen drama but the transition between genres was accomplished perfectly.
The story becomes much dire, it can even make the viewer doubt the mental stability of characters. I saw the movie with another person who wondered if the director was using an unreliable narrator. These are understandable doubts but in the end, the movie is very clear about what happens and the plot is not twisted so there is no risk to confusion.
If you enjoy psychological thrillers don't be put off by the young age of the characters, there are some silly scenes but the story is serious and, just as the name of the movie implies, quite dark. A very entertaining thriller and one of the best I have seen in recent months.
The best
- The plot is indeed very dark, more than what I was expecting and what's worse, something that could very well happen in real life. Perhaps it has already happened.
- As a psychological thriller, it can compete with other films that have an adult cast. Which says a lot about these young actors even though they aren't real teens, only their characters are.
The worst
- The moment that triggers everything bad is actually a very dumb scenario. Although, I guess some teenagers could be like that...
More information: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5112578/ Review: AAA In numbers: 8/10
