What is the plot?

Louise and Michael return to the family farm, the mother finds herself alone taking care of the father who is very sick. Although there is a nurse who attends every day. The mother is not very happy with the arrival of her children, she tells them that it was not necessary for them to be there, that they should leave. The second day, a terrible tragedy occurs, a succession of strange events makes the brothers have to rethink all their beliefs, to fight with an evil presence ready to devour the soul of all.

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When the movie starts, from the first minute, we will be absorbed by this disturbing atmosphere that they have managed to create in a fabulous way. We will feel the presence of something evil with the beginning of the movie and it will not give rest, increasing the density of the atmosphere every day that the brothers spend in the farm.

The setting of the story, in a rural farm, in deep America, manages to convey a terrifying discomfort, those rural landscapes and night scenes achieved, we will feel the presence of something evil in that place. We must congratulate the director of photography, Tristan Nybi, for his excellent work for this film.

An important element of horror films is the music. In this case, too, a perfect musical composition is made to cause that effect of demonic presence throughout the film. The composer Tom Schraeder, who has made the music for other films of the same genre, makes sure that the musical notes created for the film are correct.

Will the wolf stop coming because you don't believe in him?

The family has never believed in God, so it is strange that the brothers have their mother's writings in a diary. In addition to the crosses they gave him in a certain scene. But apparitions and situations without logical explanation, will put in doubt all their beliefs.

Michael is the most obstinate in not accepting reality. He does not believe in demons or anything like that. For him, his mother was not right in the head. Everything that has no logical explanation is a product of the imagination, although as the days go by, he will have to accept the truth in a fatal way.

Luisa is the opposite, although she does not believe in any religion; what she sees and feels is real. She quickly becomes convinced of the presence of the devil on the farm. Although she knows that she must leave that place as soon as possible, she feels unable to abandon her dying father. It is she who stars in the most disturbing scenes of the film and we will accompany her until the abrupt and shocking end.

The pace does not slow down, interspersing the moments of calm and telling us the story slowly, but with well-distributed moments of terror. There are several jumping scares that work well, combined with all the photography and music work.

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Filmmaker Bryan Bertino debuted in 2008 with the film The Strangers. Since that first film directed and written by him, a good future in the horror genre was in sight. It wasn't a perfect debut, but it turned out to be very promising. Bertino also wrote the script for the 2018 sequel The Strangers: Prey at Night, but it was directed by Johannes Roberts and the film was very irregular and received bad reviews.

Bertino's second film was Mockingbird, a product that had its director's stamp, but it was not to my liking, for a moment I thought that the director's career would go down the drain, but in 2016 it came back to my attention with the excellent The Monster, with a great story and excellent performances. It was only a matter of time before the filmmaker would give us a new film, where he would show the maturity that comes from experience, something that was palpable in The Dark and the Wicked, which would be his best film yet.

The work of the main actors, who play the two brothers, is good. The interpretations are credible and bring realism to everything that happens on the farm.

Michael Abbott Jr. plays Michael , the man who first refuses to believe this fantasy about the presence of evil in the house, but ends up going crazy and suffering the fury of evil in his own flesh. He is not a very famous actor, but he has participated in many movies, and has experience in playing this type of deep American character, having worked in movies such as Mud, Loving and Shotgun Stories.

Marin Ireland is the most outstanding, playing Louise. She will be the most tormented by the presence of the devil. Nightmares and terrifying visions will be a constant during her days on the farm. She will also be the one who best conveys the terror and fear of her character. The actress has great experience in the theater, where she has won the Audie award and has been nominated for the Tony premise. Her long experience extends to many television series, such as Homeland and Law & Order, as well as several films, she was one of the actresses in The Irish.

Julie Oliver-Touchstone plays the mother and actor Michael Zagst is the father. Lynn Andrews plays the nurse, starring in the gore scene of the movie. Tom Nowicki plays Charlie, the old man who works on the farm and will not escape the devil's grip. Xander Berkeley has a small role, playing a priest who makes a strange visit to the farm.

The young Canadian actress, Ella Ballentine, who worked in the director's previous film, The Monster, makes a brief appearance in this film, playing Charlie's granddaughter. It is a short scene, which manages to be terrifying and scary. Despite being so young, she has participated in many films and in Canada she has won the Screen Awards.

Trailer

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POSTER

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