Detective Jeff Anderson (Shawn Ashmore) is at the top of his game. His high-level detective job on the Los Angeles Police force is treating him well and providing stability for himself and his family. He’s looking at a promotion that could change his life. Sure, the hours are rough, and he’s always putting himself on the line, but it’s worth it to be a hero to his little boy, Frankie (Judah Mackey). Jeff comes home one night to find that his wife Elizabeth (Vahina Giocante) has apparently taken her own life. With no motive, and no note, Jeff is convinced there is foul play at work, and immediately sets out to find out who did this to his family.

Six months later, Jeff has the hungry, starved look of a man with an obsession. He stakes out suicide cases looking for any similar to Elizabeth’s. He’s lost his potential promotion to his former partner, Kelly (Daniella Alonso), and she makes her concerns clear – Jeff is manic, and what he’s doing borders on legality and bad ethics. He’s using his police position to get information on cases that he isn’t assigned to, to fuel what she believes to be a fantasy. As far as she’s concerned, Elizabeth killed herself, and that’s it. Jeff is unconvinced though, and in his obsession, unlocks a clue that brings the whole case into stark spotlight. Dozens of prominent, successful women have been found dead “by suicide” in Los Angeles, under the exact same circumstances as Elizabeth was found. As the pieces begin to come together, Jeff has to decide where to draw the line – and what matters most to him – revenge or family.

DARKNESS FALLS, originally titled “Anderson Falls”, has a cast of what most would call “B stars”, including an incredible villain turn from Gary Cole, and a complete waste of the talents of Lin Shaye as Jeff’s mother. Shawn Ashmore, known mostly for X-Men movies, gives a performance that is impossible to get a barometer on – one moment apathetic and under-acted, and the next so bombastic and violent it seems he’ll blow the back of his own head off. In many ways, Ashmore’s performance is a perfect microcosm of what I struggled with in this film – I couldn’t ever seem to get the film’s emotional pulse. In moments catatonic and later recklessly fast paced, DARKNESS FALLS has fits and starts from beginning to end, without any kind of pattern or, seemingly, reason.

With a title like DARKNESS FALLS I was expecting a Los Angeles action thriller – something you’d see the likes of Jason Statham or maybe Matt Damon in. A gritty cop flick packed with car chases and shootouts, and high drama. I anticipated an overly buff Ashmore, with weapons he’d never be allowed to carry in the police force, taking down the bad guys all in the name of revenge. John Wick, but in a straight-laced police detective uniform. Instead, DARKNESS FALLS is a quiet, though emotionally volatile, tale of a father’s love for his child, grief, and exactly how far an obsession can drive you. Violence and questionable thoughts on women in general come with the territory in films like this, and hearing Gary Cole unashamedly balk at a female police chief is something I definitely don’t think we needed in 2020, but the heart of DARKNESS FALLS is rooted in love and family, even where you wouldn’t expect it. In fact, if I were to sum this up in one concept, DARKNESS FALLS is about fathers and sons… the love that they share, the way fathers can disappoint and program their sons, the way sons grow up to be their fathers… cue “Cat’s in the Cradle”…

DARKNESS FALLS takes a great cast and puts them all to task making sense of a lukewarm script. Tepid performances from the majority of the cast are elevated by some really sinister work from Gary Cole, while Ashmore seemingly bounces off the walls aimlessly in hopes of finding his mark. His histrionic rage is too much to take seriously, and his apathy in intimate and quiet moments almost feels like he thought they were rehearsing and hadn’t called “Action”. And speaking of action, that’s another middle of the road, less than exciting piece of the story here. DARKNESS FALLS has a lot of heart, but not much else.

5/10 stars