Taglines: You were right to be afraid of the dark.
Years after the mysterious and gruesome death of their father Paul in his textile factory, not much seem to have changed for his mentally disturbed wife Sophie and Paul’s young son, Martin. As a matter of fact, Sophie’s condition clearly gets worse, as her increasingly persistent conversations with her familiar mutinous demons within the darkness’ embrace, threaten Martin’s safety, who more than ever, needs his older step-sister, Rebecca.
In Sophie’s mind, the entity that haunts her is palpably distinct and inextricably intertwined with her existence, nevertheless, to Martin and Rebecca, things are not so obvious. But soon, the fleeting but dreadful sounds along with the faint traces of otherworldly manifestations will teach the siblings that terrors do exist when the lights are out.
Lights Out is a 2016 American supernatural horror film directed by David F. Sandberg in his directorial debut, produced by Lawrence Grey, James Wan, and Eric Heisserer and written by Heisserer. It stars Teresa Palmer, Gabriel Bateman, Alexander DiPersia, Billy Burke, and Maria Bello. It is based on Sandberg’s 2013 short film of the same name and features Lotta Losten, who starred in the short.
The film had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 8, 2016, and was released in the United States and Canada on July 22, 2016, by Warner Bros. The film received positive reviews and was a box office success, grossing $148 million against a budget of $4.9 million.
About the Story
In a textile factory, an employee named Esther encounters a silhouette of a woman when the lights are off, but cannot see it when the lights are on. She warns her boss Paul. He also encounters the woman and notes that she will not come into the light. He is killed by the woman after she chases him through the factory.
A short time later, a young woman named Rebecca is called into the school nurse’s office of her brother, Martin. Rebecca and Martin are half-siblings, sharing the same mom: Sophie. The nurse was unable to get in touch with Sophie to inform her that Martin has been falling asleep in class lately. An official from Child Protective Services questions Rebecca about Martin’s living conditions. Rebecca tells the official Sophie has depression, and is taking antidepressants. Rebecca also tells the official Paul was her stepfather, and that her real father ran away when she was a child.
Rebecca and her boyfriend, Bret, take Martin to Sophie’s house. Martin tells Rebecca that Sophie has been talking to a woman named “Diana”. Rebecca assures Martin that Diana isn’t a real person, and that she had also heard Sophie talk to the imaginary Diana when she was a child. Rebecca gets in an argument with Sophie when she realizes her mom is not taking her medication, so she takes Martin to her apartment so he can rest.
That night, Rebecca is woken by the same woman that killed Paul after she notices her scratching at the floor. Rebecca narrowly escapes an attack from the woman when she turns the lights on and the woman disappears. The next morning, Rebecca notices the word “Diana” has been scratched into her floor, along with a stick figure drawing of a woman. Rebecca has a flashback to when she found the same name and drawing as a child, and realizes Diana is real.
While her mom is running errands, Rebecca sneaks into Sophie’s house and finds a box of medical records and other research in Paul’s office. Paul’s findings reveal that Sophie was admitted to a mental hospital as a child. While there, she befriended a young patient named Diana. Diana suffered from a severe skin condition, and was accidentally killed by the hospital staff when they performed surgery on her under intense light. Rebecca also learns that Diana was admitted to the mental hospital after her dad committed suicide, and that it was believed that Diana was able to “get into people’s heads”.
Rebecca, Bret, and Martin stage an intervention at Sophie’s house about how Diana’s spirit is haunting them all. Sophie becomes irate, says she won’t abandon her friend, then locks herself in her bedroom. The team decides to stay the night at Sophie’s, intending to get her help in the morning. To avoid an attack from Diana during the night, they rig the house to be as brightly lit as possible.
This proves to be useless when Diana cuts the power to the neighborhood. Diana traps Rebecca and Martin in the basement, and attempts to kill Bret. Bret escapes Diana, and drives to get help from the police. In the basement, Rebecca finds a black light while searching for light sources to brighten the basement. When Rebecca clearly sees Diana with the black light, she realizes it’s not powerful enough to harm her.
Lights Out
Directed by: David F. Sandberg
Starring: Teresa Palmer, Maria Bello, Alicia Vela-Bailey, Billy Burke, Emily Alyn Lind, Gabriel Bateman, Amiah Miller, Lotta Losten, Ava Cantrell
Screenplay by: Eric Heisserer
Production Design by: Jennifer Spence
Cinematography by: Marc Spicer
Film Editing by: Michel Aller
Costume Design by: Kristin M. Burke
Set Decoration by: Lisa Son
Art Direction by: Shannon Kemp
Music by: Benjamin Wallfisch
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for terror throughout, violence including disturbing images, some thematic material and brief drug content.
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: July 22, 2016
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