"Lights Out" Movie Review

Once I saw the trailer for the movie, “Lights Out” directed by David Sandberg, I was hooked to the film that depicted a unique horror plot and especially, the antagonist. I’ve seen devils, spirits and entities being focused on horror movies but this particular movie, which was based on a short film by the same director, made a great horror being from the flickering of lights. When I finally watched the movie, I was greatly impressed by the depth behind the plot and the scary scenes that it encouraged me to make a movie review about it. 

The movie revolves around Sophie (Maria Bello), who is experiencing depression to the point where her children, Martin (Gabriel Bateman) and Rebecca (Teresa Palmer), witnessed her talking to somebody who seems to only appear in the dark. Days after Martin’s father/ Rebecca’s stepdad (Billy Burke), has died, Rebecca was determined to let Martin live with her when she found out that their mother has been neglecting Martin and the poor boy had been too scared to sleep when he hears his mother talking to someone in her room. However, even in Rebecca’s apartment, they still saw a shadowed being with long claws that tried to kill Rebecca but she ended up switching the lights on just in time. Determined to solve the mystery behind the relation of Sophie’s issues and this entity, they dug their mother’s past and when they went to sleep in their house along with Rebecca’s boyfriend, Bret (Alexander DiPersia), they discovered more information about this being, which was later revealed as Diana, and Rebecca had faced Diana to end everything once and for all. 

Teresa Palmer who acted as Rebecca is a skilled actress, from supernatural movies to romance then action movies, even in this movie, she impressed me with her acting skills. Throughout the movie, she was consistent acting the role of this rebellious young adult who cared for her step-brother more than anything. When the action scenes were played out, she was not an amateur in it and stunts appeared more realistic. On the other hand, the actress who played Sophie, Maria Bello, was even more impressive playing the part of a depressed and misunderstood mother who went crazy. Bello strikingly acted her part well especially when there were the scenes depicting Sophie as miserably desperate. It was remarkable how the actress incorporated the thoughts of Sophie as hers and expressed her loneliness throughout the movie. Furthermore, the other actors such as Gabriel Bateman who played as Martin and Alexander DiPersia who played as Bret also were exceptional in their acting skills which made the movie all the more better. 

First and foremost, the horror scenes where Diana appears were impressive. The scenes of flickering lights added great effects and thrill to the overall movie. What I like most about the movie was that behind the jump scares and the mysterious life of Sophie was the symbolism behind the character of Diana. It represented depression and it amazed me how the director managed to raise awareness on a mental disorder with a horror genre. Another thing that I liked about this representation is how Sophia ended it. The way she stopped Diana from hurting anyone ever again was remarkable because her actions gave a glimpse into the life of a depressed person. Moreover, I liked the character of Bret, Rebecca’s boyfriend, a lot because of the fact that he breaks the stereotyped boyfriend. He was this flat character that even though saw the messed up life of Rebecca, he didn’t judged her or left her and then, when he was given the chance to run away from a life-threatening situation, he chose to come back and help Rebecca. On the contrary, what I disliked about the movie was the ending where the resolution felt so abrupt. Overall, I enjoyed the movie a lot however, the ending was not satisfactory. 

The story of Sophie and Diana represents the relationship between a depressed person and depression. Diana was a symbol for depression and this was what the director wants to highlight in the movie. Because of the fact that Diana only appeared in the dark and despised the presence of light, this made me realize that depression is the same. The symptoms of depression could mostly be only spotted when the person looking has experienced or witnessed depression itself. Rebecca and Martin firsthand saw Diana for the reason that they grew in a broken family. However, despite how they see the existence of Diana, they couldn’t understand how their mother protects and befriends Diana. Depression cannot be easily healed. It was shown in the movie how Sophie treated Diana as a friend even though the being was causing her harm. Depressed people seem to embrace the darkness more because in their state they don’t realize the damage it causes when all they see is darkness and darkness alone and majority of the people don’t understand it when people who are depressed don’t just shrug the loneliness off or cheer up. In addition, Diana seems to cling on Sophie so much that it strangles her and prevents her from doing things she does normally. And there was this scene where she throws all the things that produces light. Again, depression is the very same wherein when a person is depressed they disregard love ones and their health and hobbies and just focus on the darkness. The resolution was also very symbolic as to how Sophie handled the problem. It made the audience, such as myself, realize that not all actions caused by depression are not selfish. The director captured the true perspective of a depressed person and it was what made me love the movie so much. 

“Lights Out” is categorized as horror and supernatural. Ever since I’ve been into reading creepypastas (internet horror stories), I’ve come to appreciate and love the horror genre. I think that creepypasta readers would appreciate watching the film because of its distinctiveness from other horror movies and its connection to psychological conflicts, which is greatly admired in creepypastas. Moreover, I would recommend this movie to any person who likes to analyze movies and/or who simply adores watching horror movies.

Image Source: Shaw Online