Dark My Light review
Detective work has rarely been so wildly, and intriguingly, repetitive.
Coming to VOD May 6, 2025.
New Movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Dark My Light
Directed by Neal Dhand
Written by Neal Dhand
Starring Albert Jones, Keesha Sharp and Tom Lipinski
Dark My Light Review
I’m not a big fan of procedural dramas. While the genre lights up the television charts…the tedium of story similarity has always left me feeling a bit cold. Sure, I’ve been roped in by someone’s performance from time to time. Vincent D’Onofrio’s Detective Goren pulled me into Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Hugh Laurie got me through most of House. For the most part, however, the glut of police/hospital/lawyer/detective shows haven’t been for me. Dark My Light solves my procedural problems by infusing a healthy dose of sci-fi fun into the mix…gradually making what would feel repetitive more interesting at ever new (old) day.
That may sound like a strange opening to a movie review. Movies aren’t TV procedurals after all. TV procedurals can be anywhere from 8 to 22 hour long episodes. Dark My Light clocks in at under 90 minutes. So…what am I talking about? Despite its short stay…Dark My Light introduces us to an entirely different, and more interesting, procedural setup. It begins without much variation. Mitchell Morse (Albert Jones) is a hardened detective who gets a new partner, Dreyfus (Tom Lipinski). Their first case is getting on the trail of a serial killer who appears to have switched him M.O. They find an amputated foot on the beach…next to a dead body the foot doesn’t belong to. And we’re off.
Like any procedural worth its salt…we learn more about Morse and Dreyfus while they work the case. Dreyfus was recently reassigned for reasons that definitely should have led to at least a suspension. Morse has a wife, Emily (Keesha Sharp); their relationship seems strong at first blush. Morse takes note of the chemistry that Dreyfus has with Emily…our first, subtle sign that something is going on beyond the standard presentation. Dark My Light doesn’t stay subtle for long. A shocking moment occurs…followed by, seemingly, a completely fresh restart.
Dark My Light becomes more interesting as its investigation rolls on. After a while…the investigation itself isn’t even important anymore. Morse knows who the serial killer he’s chasing is. He’s lived through this over and over. He knows why the DNA on the amputated foot matches Dreyfus’s. He knows how and when the serial killer will strike…and who his targets are. And…he knows that his marriage is falling apart. He knows these things because Dark My Light makes a fast, hard, and fun turn into science fiction.
It can be a little confusing at first…images and scenes are presented that don’t fully add up. Things become more and more in focus as Dark My Light continues through its loops. Morse isn’t an innocent bystander caught in a Groundhog Day situation. He discovers a lighthouse will send him back in time ten days…and continues to utilize it until he can get everything right. Suddenly, his routines take on entirely new meaning. Dying his hair goes from an uninteresting action to a way to try and hide his greying hair from people who have just seen him a day earlier from their perspective. His relationship with Dreyfus, seen at first as an initial meeting, takes a different angle. Morse’s investigation itself raises more questions than answers.
There are a lot of things to discover in Dark My Light’s clever story. Just when you start to get a handle on something…your understanding of it might change completely. Albert Jones anchors things with a steady, calm performance that becomes increasingly unhinged. Morse, on top of everything, appears to be losing his mind. When you finally grasp the full picture of what he’s been doing…and how long he’s been doing it…and why he’s doing it…it’s an earned decline. The road getting there is an equally worthwhile one. Dark My Light becomes more interesting the more it reveals. A standard detective story finds a new purpose for its repetitive nature. It’s a story that isn’t afraid to take big swings…and explain them when it feels like it. All will make sense by the end. Getting there is more than half the fun.
Scare Value
If you’re a fan of sci-fi time loop movies, Dark My Light has some fun ideas about it. What begins as a seemingly standard serial killer case becomes something completely different. The best procedurals focus as much on their characters as the crime of the week. What if it was the same crime every week? The character becomes much more interesting. And the story becomes much more entertaining.
3.5/5
