Including the scares, Never After Dark captures a haunting loss as the horror builds alongside the biggest horror of all: a life unlived.
Never After Dark takes a less traveled by approach to the haunted house story with its twist. I can recall the number of times I’ve read or seen this type on one hand. That immediately makes the movie something rare within the haunted house genre. With that is the acting and story, spinning in awkwardness that leaves audiences uncomfortable and questioning every person on the screen. Including the scares, Never After Dark captures a haunting loss as the horror builds alongside the biggest horror of all: a life unlived.
Dave Boyle (Man From Reno, Daylight Savings) writes and directs a film that weaves multiple genres together. The story follows a psychic, Airi, played by Moeka Hoshi (Memorizu, The Women in the Lakes), on her way to assist a widowed mother and adult son with an unknown spirit in her large home. With the aid of her ghost sister, Airi faces off with a terrifying ghost, played by Mutsuo Yoshioka (Haiyoshin). Unfortunately, this one is about to be different than her usual cases. Yet, it also harkens back to a past the living sister wishes to ignore.
Never After Dark Weaves a Creepy Hyphenated Horror Flick
It’s not just a horror or supernatural film. There are elements of mystery as Airi pieces together what spirit resides in the large residence. As things come to a head, the story shifts more from supernatural horror to thriller and crime, but one swirls into the next with such ease that there’s no jarring surprise. There are occasional frights. But it’s less spine-chilling and more a dread that builds up as the genres merge.
Despite the supernatural elements, there is an equal focus on Airi herself. Her assertion that people are scarier than spirits resonates with her behavior and with viewers. As she works to uncover whatever “unfinished business” this nightmare-inducing ghost has, she tries to minimize interactions with the mother and son.
The only time she seems remotely relaxed is when she’s drunk. So, her determination to avoid people makes her seem like a spirit just passing through. Yet her fear is understandable given her past. Never After Dark builds an uncomfortable watch because everyone’s awkwardness raises red flags of doom.
Cast Captures the Awkward Experience
Thanks to the performances, there’s an air of discomfort at the outset when they all meet. It possesses the necessary awkwardness that inviting a stranger with psychic abilities to the home would engender. The effect also builds because you have the mom who experienced the phenomenon. Meanwhile, her skeptical son side-eyes the psychic. Moeka Hoshi is a sympathetic character as she feels stilted and reticent when she deals with people. Mutsuo Yoshioka is creepy in appearance and more. The performances build tension and leave you wondering how it all shakes down.
The Past Does Not Get Enough Focus
Although the movie effectively brings together the similarities between this case and what happened when they were kids, Never After Dark does not do enough to explain what occurred. It keeps it too obscure, especially when it’s two children in peril, but faults a young Airi—who would’ve been younger than her sister—for running away. So, it makes you wonder if that part was originally written for older siblings who were closer to adults, and they forgot to make the necessary changes after casting. The twist would’ve been more effective if they fleshed out a few more details from the past.
Never After Dark has moments that resemble many other films and shows, but still maintains a novel quality in that convergence as the ghost story goes from spooky to horrifying. Thankfully, there is not an overabundance of jump scares cheapening the movie. It relies on its atmosphere and the cast to create the tension, which works. The surrounding trees prevent sunlight from entering the house, so the home always looks dim and eerie. Never After Dark is a dread-filled flick with a raw lead performance showing that homes are not the only things that can be haunted.
