'The Mist' review

Rating: ***1/2 out of ****

On the surface, ‘The Mist’ is another horror film made with standard pieces and mixed together by a formula. This is true of course, but like the mist that smothers the town in the Stephen King adaptation, there is more here than what's on the surface.

‘The Mist’ begins with a powerful hurricane descending on a village in Maine, the signature of a King story. The storm dissipates, leaving a thick mist that eventually engulfs the town. The story centers on a local artist named David Drayton (Thomas Jane) who, along with his son and neighbor (Andre Braugher) travels into town to pick up supplies at the local shop. All is well until a bleeding, panicking man runs into the store screaming that people must not leave, as there is ‘something in the mist’. From here on, the film stays primarily in the shop. As expected, the mist envelopes the store and all methods of communication are cut. Here, we meet the usual crop of locals – the ignorant mechanic Jim (Bill Sadler), the cute shop girl Sally (Alexa Davalos), the heroic shop clerk Ollie (Toby Jones) and above all, Ms. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden), a religious extremist and would-be messianic leader.

David and Ms. Carmody inadvertently fall into roles as leaders of opposing bands of survivors. One side is the logical folks who understand the situation: figure out how to survive or escape before whatever is in the mist comes to kill them. The other side is made up of Ms. Carmody and her rapidly growing band of followers who, as she convinces them, are preparing for the end of days. Ms. Carmody is a radical fundamentalist who preys upon the fearful to join her. She doesn’t see murder or human sacrifice as a small price to pay to avoid eternal damnation. Slowly, David’s group becomes outnumbered and eventually has to figure out how to survive the menace inside as well as the one outside. And of course, there are the standard folks who, for one reason or another, find reasons to venture outside into the mist. I don’t need to say what happens, suffice it to say a grown man leaves in one piece and comes back in one substantially smaller piece.

That’s exactly the appeal of ‘The Mist’. It’s not just about what’s outside the shop, but what’s occurring inside. It’s a character study about how a person can be rational and intelligent but people can be dangerous animals. It shows how people divide, take sides and are willing to believe anything when they’re facing death. It is also a cautionary tale about the dangers of playing God and the limits of technology (just because we can, does not mean we should). Its characters think and act more logically than most horror characters. I was glad that when time came to flee the store, most had an actual reason to do so, rather than to further the plot (‘Dawn of The Dead’). It also contains a scene so cathartic it drew applause in the theater and the ending simultaneously shocked me and broke my heart. Many saw the ending as predictable or that there were alternatives to what takes place, but considering the situation, what has gone on before this, and what the characters know by now, it seemed like a completely logical and plausible conclusion.

‘The Mist’ has been adapted and directed by Frank Darabont (‘The Shawshank Redemption’, ‘The Green Mile’) and he is just the man to handle this material. Rather than undertake another 3-hour epic, Darabont uses his skill to adapt a formulaic horror story into a captivating piece of suspense. The film isn’t dependent on elaborate set pieces or special effects but operates on great performances, tone, and dialogue. It is so rare in this day to see a dialogue-driven horror film. It’s a nice balance to the myriad of splatter-fests hitting the multiplexes.

Darabont is a teacher as well as a filmmaker. ‘The Mist’ is a master’s class on how to make an exceptional B-movie.