'Out of Darkness' review: Prehistoric horror film survives on mood

Heavy on mood and atmospherics, director Andrew Cumming's Stone Age horror movie "Out of Darkness" lets its setting and its technique do most of its talking.

The film is set 45,000 years ago — or about 44,986 years before the advent of Instagram, if you're looking for a modern timeframe comparison — as a small group of settlers descends upon a new land, in search of safety and bountiful offerings from nature.

What they get is a mostly barren landscape, which forces them to forage for food, and fear for their long-term future. It of course doesn't help that when night falls, a mysterious predator attacks, the origin of which is unknown, and starts picking them off one-by-one.

So this cast of unfamiliar faces — Luna Mwezi plays Heron, son of group leader Adem (Chuku Modu), and Beyah (Safia Oakley-Green) is a straggler picked up along the way — heads off in search of the beast, or the Other, or maybe of the nature of fear itself. "Out of Darkness" is best when it's ambiguous, and it loses some of its zip as answers begin to come into focus. But in terms of look and feel, it has plenty going for it.

Cinematographer Ben Fordesman ("Saint Maud") shoots heavy darkness, sometimes with a lone flicker of light far off in the distance, or the reflection off of a pupil as the focal point of the frame. He captures the barren beauty of the Scottish Highlands, and thereby the desolation of these early scavenger survivors.

"Out of Darkness" moves at a steady clip and has the pacing and feel of a "Predator" movie, most closely mimicking the beats and themes of 2022's "Prey."

Which means first-time filmmaker Cumming may be fielding offers to helm something in that vein the next time around, and "Out of Darkness" shows he's more than capable of handling the task.

agraham@detroitnews.com

'Out of Darkness'

GRADE: B-

Rated R: for violence and some grisly images

Running time: 87 minutes

In theaters