Directed by Andrew Cumming, the 2024 survival horror film “Out of Darkness” is truly enthralling. It creates an eerie atmosphere with stunning visuals and captures the feeling of being alone in a vast wilderness. The main theme is the abandonment of fear in a situation where six people are striving to find their own paradise. However, the film falls short of delivering on the promise of a terrifying creature lurking in the darkness. It might be due to a change in direction from horror to survival thriller or other reasons. Despite this, it’s still worth watching for its visuals and music.
Spoilers Ahead.
Out of Darkness (2024) Plot Summary and Movie Synopsis
The film starts with six people from an old tribe around 45,000 years ago looking to find a place where they can start to build their homes and grow their food. The group is led by Adem. Within that group, there is his pregnant wife, Ave, his younger brother, Geirr, his son, Heron, an elder male, Odal, and a stray named Beyah. Adem has left his tribe to find a better home for his family, which is not required, as suggested by Odal. Adem has promised them land and food, but so far, they do not have any luck regarding that.
Eventually, Adem brings his family to an island after traveling for a long time and thinks that this is the place where they can grow their own nest. But, soon Odal finds out that the land isn’t suitable for agriculture. Odal says that they have landed on a cursed island, and if they do not leave soon, death will follow them no matter what. Adem, being the alpha male of the group, suggests that he can fight off any living thing that’s there. He also says that he doesn’t believe in the existence of any ghost or demon. But, soon, everything changes.
What happens to Adem?
Adem, along with his family, travels towards the mountains, hoping to find a cave where they can start living. One night, they come across a strange creature. Subsequently, in the darkness of the night, Heron is taken away by it. Adem insists on chasing after the creature into the woods. But Geirr tries to explain to him that if Adem goes, he will not be able to save the rest of his family as Geirr is not as strong as Adem. Adem decides to stay back since his wife is pregnant, and he can not afford to lose her as well. However, they soon lose their way in the dense forest. When night falls, Adem, hearing the creature screaming again, chases it alone.
Unfortunately, he is attacked and gravely injured. Adem starts screaming so hard that Geirr runs in the direction of the scream only to bring an almost-dead Adem back. Adem’s wounds are so fatal that killing him will be a merciful act. But no one is brave enough to kill one of their own until Beyah stabs him to death. Avethey decide to put Adem out of his misery. With no other food available, and since Ave is struggling because of hunger, Beyah decides to eat Adem’s flesh. Geirr tries to stop her from doing so. But to survive, they must eat whatever they can afford. So, apart from Geirr, everyone else starts eating Adem’s flesh to survive the night.
Does the Creature really Exist?
After Adem’s death, Geirr tries to guide the group through the dense forest, but he too fails as soon they stumble upon Adem’s remaining body and realize that they are going in circles. Meanwhile, Odal becomes convinced that they’re being followed by a demon. He blames Beyah’s menstrual cycle because he thinks that since it is her first time, the scent is attracting the demon, and if they offer her to the demon, it will leave them for good. Since she just wants to survive, Ave talks with Odal about this, as she does not want to lose another child. Together, they try to hold Beyah, but Geirr interferes.
They knock Geirr out, and when the screaming of the creature is heard, Beyah somehow manages to escape from them. Since Beyah has escaped, Odal decides to offer Ave as a sacrifice. But Ave fights back, and amidst the chaos, Odal’s ankle is severely broken. We see the northern lights illuminate the forest as Odal witnesses a creature taking Ave’s body. The following morning, Geirr regains his consciousness and finds Beyah. Beyah finds him first as she warns him to stay silent. Later, we see them witnessing the creature killing Odal.
Beyah and Geirr later decide to ambush and capture the creature so that they can put an end to this constant threat. When the creature comes close to Geirr, Beyah attacks it from the back, and a mask drops. Soon, they realize that the creature is nothing but a female Neanderthal wearing a ‘predator’-like mask. The female manages to run past them as Beyah and Geirr follow her tracks to the mountains and discover a cave where Beyah believes the Neanderthal lives.
Out of Darkness (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
How does Beyah find Heron?
Once Beyah enters the cave, a male Neanderthal attacks her. He is too powerful for Beyah, as he almost kills him with bare hands. Beyah’s survival instincts are the best among the others in the group as she pretends to be dead, and when the male loses his grip, Beyah attacks him with a stone, leaving him severely injured. At this moment, Geirr arrives at the scene and guards the male as Beyah moves forward into the deepest regions of the cave. Soon, she finds something moving under a cloak, and when she removes it, she finds Heron.
Heron suddenly looks at the female Neanderthal, who is standing right behind Beyah. Seeing the female with a weapon in her hand, Beyah screams louder so that Geirr can hear. Geirr hears the sound and comes to the place after killing the male. As he enters deeper into the cave, he is surprised to see Heron alive, but since his guard is down, the female kills him in an instant. Beyah, seeing that she can not fight the female as she is all fired up for killing anyone that comes across, decides to escape the cave.
She sets fire to some furs to distract the female and asks Heron to get out through a small opening in the cave. Beyah, too, comes out of the cave through the opening, and as the cave is filled with smoke, the female tries to get out as well. But, she is struck right at the edge of the opening. To Beyah’s utmost surprise, Heron goes to help the female get out of the cave. Beyah intervenes in the process, killing her with a rock. Heron screams at her for killing the female as somehow he has grown a bond with her.
Is Beyah right to kill the Neanderthal?
Later, Beyah realized that the Neanderthals were only helping Heron as he was a kid. But, from Beyah’s perspective, it was either them or her. Beyah expresses her remorse for killing the Neanderthals, knowing that they were just as afraid as them. In the forest, where survival is the only option, seeing a group of six people quite naturally threatened the Neanderthals. All they did was fight and survive, just like Beyah. Heron even shows how thoughtfully Ave’s body is kept by the Neanderthals for a funeral.
At the end of the film, we see Beyah and Heron burying the dead, and Beyah claims the cave as their new home. Beyah suggests that from here on a new community will rise and she will lead them to explore different things. The deaths of Adem, Odal, Geirr, Ave, and the Neanderthals prove the survival instinct of humans and how they all killed each other only to live for a day longer. The urge to live pushes them to win the fight, not the gender, and never the muscle, but the willingness to be alive and thrive in the world of possibilities.
