Dark Places - 2015 - 6/10
Tightly wound, adult thriller with Charlize Theron playing troubled survivor.
When she was 8, her family was mass murdered. For thirty years, she lived on charity, royalties from a ghost written memoir, envelopes with cash or cheques from accident onlookers. Now the money has dried, and she still has no job skills, no employment history.
A conspiracy club offers money if she tries to discover what truly happened.
And down the grim, trashy rabbit hole she goes.
Adapted from an earlier book by Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl), this has less fireworks and is less over the top.
Theron’s character is haunted and bruised, with no super abilities or genius IQ.
Story is more believable than Gone Girl, and the feel is more realistic.
Note - Not necessary, but older viewers might remember the mass hysteria over Satan worship, with possession and sacrifices, that was a cultural feature of the 1980's.
