REVIEW: ‘Hold the Dark’ is intriguing in premise, disappointing in execution

Legendary director Alfred Hitchcock famously illustrated the power of suspense by imagining a scenario in which a ticking bomb, unbeknownst to the diegetic characters, was set to explode in 15 minutes during a “very innocent little chat.”

In Jeremy Saulnier’s “Hold the Dark,” this concept of tension-building and anxiety is evoked in a confrontation between police chief Donald Marium (James Badge Dale) and a resident of an Alaskan village (Julian Black Antelope) as they exchange words over a loaded gun that could fire at any second. This scene is only one of few noteworthy moments in the thriller, an  ultimately shallow and confusing two-hour experience.

In the Netflix original film, a pack of wolves kidnaps 6-year-old Bailey Sloane (Beckham Crawford). His mother, Medora (Riley Keough), hires wolf expert Russell Core (Jeffrey Wright) to hunt down the pack, which has already killed three children. However, Medora’s involvement in the abduction soon unravels and affects everyone involved with the case, including Vernon Sloane (Alexander Skarsgård), a father seeking vengeance for his son’s disappearance.

With this intriguing premise, “Hold the Dark” could have been a tightly focused thriller that used dramatic filmmaking techniques to tell a dangerous “man vs. wild” story. Instead, Saulnier delivered a dull and convoluted experience.

“Hold the Dark” sets itself up to be brutal and mysterious, but Saulnier’s tendency to reveal new information at inopportune moments prevents potentially memorable scenes from being impactful. When Bailey goes missing, the movie fails to capitalize on the mystery of other potential threats by blatantly revealing the culprit, the wolf pack.

The actors undersell the severity of the characters’ ordeals, as most of them provide stoic performances.

Keough as Medora failed to convey sufficient distress when Bailey was kidnapped, especially when the film later reveals that she was involved with the crime.

Skarsgård’s performance especially hurts the film; his monotony fails to set him up as a well-defined adversary and renders the central conflict nonexistent at times.

In a flashback scene, Vernon tells Bailey his reasons for killing people: “To protect what you love and what you need.”

Although this sentiment introduces themes about revenge’s corrupting influence on righteous men, the film represses Vernon’s character development; it fails to make his transformation from empathetic to cold-blooded more sudden and sharp by not showing more tender moments.

For example, Vernon’s connection with Bailey amounts to little more than a conversation about murder and only reveals Vernon’s violent personality, masking the heartfelt relationship he had with his son.

Where Saulnier falters in developing character and conflict, however, he finds success in setting the scene. Viewers can practically feel the bleakness of the Alaskan wilderness, as they can hear Core’s shoes crunching in the snow as frost crystallizes on his beard.

As a whole, “Hold the Dark” is underwhelming. It has the makings of a riveting Western, and even stylistically challenges the genre by being set in the snow-capped Alaskan frontier. The forgettable movie has an intriguing premise that is ultimately weighed down by vapid characters and vague plot points.

At the very least, it is assuring that Saulnier wants to introduce the mood from his more strangely conceived films, like “Green Room,” to a wider audience. While his attempt to balance mainstream appeal and artistic integrity is certainly commendable, “Hold the Dark” does not represent these admirable efforts.