Dark Glasses review.
Dark Glasses marks Dario Argento’s return to the director’s chair for the first time in a decade. Lacking the ambition and style of classic Argento, Dark Glasses delivers a watchable but forgettable return. Dark Glasses will be streaming on Shudder on October 13.
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Dark Glasses
Directed by Dario Argento
Written by Dario Argento, Franco Ferrini and Carlo Lucarelli
Starring Ilenia Pastorelli, Asia Argento and Xinyu Zhang
Dark Glasses Review
There isn’t much objectionable about Dario Argento’s Dark Glasses. It’s a watchable thriller that is light on thrills and plays it too safe. If it was made by someone other than the celebrated director of Suspiria and Deep Red, it would come and go without much notice. Given that this sees Argento’s return to directing for the first time in a decade, it is cause for some celebration. If we are being honest about Argento’s filmography there wasn’t exactly a lot to write home about in the couple decades before his hiatus. Perhaps what makes Dark Glasses interesting is that it’s a better movie than most of his output in that time period. Unfortunately, it’s still not the Argento you’re looking for.
After a car accident caused by an attack from a serial killer targeting call girls leaves Diana (Ilenia Pastorelli) blind, she must learn to live with both her lack of sight and the fear the killer will return. Befriended by Chin (Xinyu Zhang), a runaway child who survived the car accident that claimed her vision, Diana finds herself on the run from both the killer and the police.
Dark Glasses isn’t a bad movie, it’s mostly just an unremarkable one. It has flashes of classic Argento style, in particular its opening sequence and in a few kill scenes. For the most part, however, Argento is content to play it all very safely. Suspense is largely missing throughout. A lot of Dark Glasses feels like a missed opportunity.
The plot of the serial killer takes a backseat for much of the picture to Diana and Chin’s stories. Diana must learn to live as a blind person with help from a blindness coach (Asia Argento) and her new guide dog. Argento spends a decent amount of time on this to show the little successes and large frustrations Diana encounters.
After Chin’s father dies and his mother falls into a coma as a result of Diana’s accident, he is left in an orphanage. After finding his way to Diana he offers to help her adjust to her new life in return for not being sent back. The police are trying to find the missing Chin while also looking into that pesky serial killer problem. Diana and Chin’s relationship is an interesting one and the likable actors do good work with underwritten parts.
Eventually the story turns back to the serial killer, and it provides the film some needed momentum. Perhaps the most memorable scene in the movie involves Diana and Chin trying to hide in the woods and crossing a river full of water snakes. Whether it’s a good kind of memorable or not is up to you.
The killer is never intended to be much of a mystery even though the identity is obscured for most of the run time. It’s another odd choice in a film that largely plays like a lifetime movie with added gore and nudity. The killer plotline spends most of the movie playing in the background, waiting to catch up with Diana…and when it finally does it leads to a satisfactory enough conclusion.
Despite how the review reads to this point, Dark Glasses is worth a watch. It’s a swift 90 minutes with a lot of interesting choices even if those choices aren’t always the right ones. If nothing else, it has some good music stings in the score. Moments of extreme violence are well done, as expected. More importantly, you come to care about the lead characters by the time danger finally catches up to them.
As for why this movie got Argento back to directing after a long wait…that’s the biggest mystery of all. This is a softer Dario Argento than we’ve seen. Despite flashes of his trademark style and violence, Dark Glasses is mostly a sentimental story about loss and friendship. The scale tipped enough to not be sure which part is intruding on the other.
Dark Glasses is in Italian with English subtitles.
Scare Value
Dark Glasses is a decent, but ultimately forgettable, return from director Dario Argento. Lacking suspense and light on classic Argento style, Dark Glasses feels like an echo of an old favorite. There are worse ways to spend 90 minutes…but there are far better Argento movies to give your attention.
2.5/5
Links
Streaming on Shudder on October 13
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