Driving through a patch of fog at night on a country road makes me tense, especially if I’m not familiar with it. That feeling makes me grip the wheel a little tighter, focus on the road a little harder, and breathe a little faster. Let’s be honest, even though uncertainties can be exciting, we’re all unnerved by the unknown.
The reason why we might be scared of the dark, frightened by that noise just outside our window, or even walking into a blind date is because we just don’t know what’s out to get us. There’s a reason we turn on the lights to walk across a room, even when we know its every little nook and cranny. What if the world as you know it went dark one day, shrouded by a sea of murkiness; would you be brave enough to walk out into The Mist?
Life is pretty good for David Drayton (Thomas Jane Dreamcatcher, Deep Blue Sea), he’s living the American dream: a successful artist with a wife and son living in a beautiful house. When a fierce storm tears through town, and his home, Drayton goes through the motions of cleaning up. Little does he know it’s all in vain. Taking his son and neighbor, Brent Norton (Andre Braugher Salem’s Lot 2004, Men of a Certain Age) to the local grocery store was just a mindless task on his to-do list, but it’s a lot harder to leave the store after a strange mist descends. Being trapped by a physical manifestation of danger and mystery, those inside begin to wonder what’s hidden within the cloud and why the people who walk through it aren't coming back.
While there may be creatures hiding inside the cloud cover, it’s the mob mentality that drives the fear factor of The Mist. What happens when a large group of people are confined to a building? Nervous and scared about whatever’s holding them there, people start looking for a way out, a way to fix things, and most importantly, someone to blame. Add a bit of brain washing evangelism a la Mrs. Carmondy (Marcia Gay Harden Mystic River, Miller’s Crossing) and you have one hot mess. What’s in the mist? Who is going to escape? Will anyone survive? Why did any of this happen in the first place? You’ll just have to watch it for yourself.
Based off of Stephen King’s novella by the same name, The Mist, is one emotional rollarcoaster. Using the same sense of sadness and doom as we’ve seen in Pet Sematary, The Stand, and The Green Mile, King tugs at our moral sensibilities while placing us into one of his many strange and terrifying conundrums. Director Frank Darabont (The Walking Dead, The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) take’s King’s vision one step further, changing parts of the story and, making the film more human and tragic. The actors in the film are incredible, heartfelt and believable within their roles, The panic of the movie really presents itself viscerally for the viewer, as long as you can get past the abysmally rendered creatures.
With Stephen King films, you can really expect the human element of the movie to hit hard and make you think, whether he goes in a comical direction or a painful one. If you are able to withstand the horrific predicaments presented in the movie, have a box of tissue at the ready, and can forgive the CGI, you owe it to yourself to see this movie. Even if you don’t know if you can handle the gut-wrenching nature of the movie, you should just watch it anyway.
This is my absolute favorite scene from The Mist. It's something I wish I could have done while watching the movie. Enjoy.
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