Following the murder of her only child, a depressed mother goes against God to perform a dark ritual in hopes of speaking to her child one more time.
Filmed in Ireland, but set in Wales, A Dark Song is a thriller that displays the tiresome, tedious task of preparing and cleansing the body in order to summon the unknown. The task requires months of waiting, with perfect precision and specific reason for calling upon the unknown.
The woman and her occultist leader are kept locked away in a large house hidden away in the depths of Wales, where they cannot leave once the house has been sealed; if one of them breaks the seal, there are to be dire consequences.
Its narrative follows both the angst of impatience, and the claustrophobia of being kept in a dark house with a person you despise.
A Dark Song uses cinematography and music to maintain its unsettling feeling, and it perfectly fits the setting of preparation for a dark ritual aimed to conjure powerful and evil spirits with the intent of going against God. Even when very little is happening, the shots and music go hand-in-hand to give the viewer a constant feeling of fear and darkness.
The film doesn't particularly contain the jump scares and terrifying moments you'd expect; it instead feels like arthouse has had a child with horror, and A Dark Song is its child.