After the death of her father when she was a child, Kit Gordy has grown up as a troubled teen for disgust of her mother Ginny and her stepfather Dave Dabrowski. Called to the principal’s office of her high school and accused of a failed attempt to burn it, Kit is expelled from the high school, but Dr. Heather Sinclair, member of the staff of the Blackwood Boarding School, appears to offer her a place in the next school year.
Ginny enlists Kit against her will in a try to correct her daughter, and Kit travels Blackwood, an old, isolated and dark mansion in the middle of a forest outside the city. There she meets her companions: nice Izzy, shy Ashley, reluctant Sierra and borderline Veronica, so troubled teens as her own.
In the dinner presentation, Kit and the other girls meet Madame Duret, Blackwood’s headmistress, and the rest of the staff: Pr. Farley (maths), Jules Duret (music), Heather Sinclair (arts) and Mrs. Olonsky, Madame Duret’s rude right-hand to keep the peace in Blackwood. Locked in a place without internet, cell phones and all trace of modern technology, Kit watches as all change in a weird way: Izzy develops an extreme obsession for mathematics, Sierra for painting, Ashley for writing and herself for piano, meanwhile that Veronica keeps out from this obsession.
Trapped between her love interest for Jules, Madame Duret’s son, and strange memory losses, Kit asks help Veronica to discover the reason of their different changes. Investigating the ruined and forbidden wing of Blackwood at the same time that the works of Izzy, Ashley, Sierra and the own Kit, this last one and Veronica realize not only that all them have one secret in common, but the previous students suffered a horrible fate caused by the Blackwood’s supernatural forces, that it will be too their own unless they find a way to avoid it.
Down a Dark Hall is an American-Spanish supernatural horror film directed by Rodrigo Cortés and written by Chris Sparling and Michael Goldbach. It is based on the novel of the same name by Lois Duncan. The film was released on August 17, 2018 with a limited release in theaters and a direct-to-VOD, by Summit Entertainment.
Stephenie Meyer optioned the Lois Duncan novel in 2013. In July 2014, Lionsgate acquired the film. Rodrigo Cortés was announced as the director the same day, and screenwriter Chris Sparling was set to work using a previous draft by Michael Goldbach. In early October 2016, AnnaSophia Robb was announced to play the main role, and Taylor Russell joined the cast three days later. On October 24, Victoria Moroles joined the cast as Veronica. To promote the pending release, Summit Entertainment released a movie trailer online for the film on May 22, 2018.
Down a Dark Hall (2018)
Directed by: Rodrigo Cortés
Starring: AnnaSophia Robb, Uma Thurman, Isabelle Fuhrman, Victoria Moroles, Noah Silver, Taylor Russell, Rosie Day, Rebecca Front, Jodhi May, Kirsty Mitchell, Jim Sturgeon, Pip Torrens
Screenplay by: Michael Goldbach, Chris Sparling
Production Design by: Víctor Molero
Cinematography by: Jarin Blaschke
Film Editing by: Rodrigo Cortés
Costume Design by: Patricia Monné
Set Decoration by: Nuria Muni
Art Direction by: Gemma Fauria, Gabriel Liste
Music by: Víctor Reyes
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic content, terror and violence, some language including a sexual reference, and smoking.
Distributed by: Summit Entertainment
Release Date: August 17, 2018
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