The Mist

2007. Dir: Frank Darabont. Starring: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher and Toby Jones. ●●●●○

There are many advantages to seeing a film like the Mist in the cinema. Primarily you can immerse yourself in the sound and the vision in a way that home cinema cannot compete with. The sheer scope of the monsters is revealed in a much better way. Mostly though there are occasions where the audience reactions cary you along with the action in extradinary ways. (Spoilers ahead).



In the Mist there are a few opportunities to laugh and there are plenty of times when you will collectively jump a little in your seats; mainly by the false scares (people tripping into things etc.). There was also a wonderful moment where the auditorium collective burst into a round of applause. If you've seen the film I'd love to know if it was the same for you, when mild-mannered deputy manager Ollie (Toby Jones) shoots the fanatical Mrs Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden) in the head were you whooping?

There is little plot in the film. A thick fog appears from nowhere (although it's probably a military experiment gone wrong) and houses beasties from another dimension. A group of disparate characters get holed up in a supermarket. Some of them die, some of them attempt to get out, some of them go a bit crazy.

The creatures are a mix of good animatronics and poor CGI and generally they look more interesting when partially obscured by the mist. The story is not really about what's outside the store though, it's much more interested in what's happening inside.

The strangers quickly form 3 groups. The first is led by our hero Thomas Jane (doing his best Tom Hanks impression) with his young son (Nathan Gamble, who you may remember from Babel). The second is a group of sceptics led by Andre Braugher, needless to say they don't last very long. And the third group is led by Marcia Gay Harden.

This group are the true monsters and none more so than Mrs. Carmody, a religious fanatic quoting bible verses and calling for expiation (atonement to God) through blood sacrifice. To begin with she is treated like a bit of a looney, but slowly more people turn to her for answers until she is able to whip up the mob and make then do her bidding. Including slaughtering a soldier (the unfeasibly gorgeous Sam Witwer) from the camp and almost killing our heroes as well. Mrs. Carmody is a frightening but believable character, we'd all like to imagine that we'd stand up to her, but if we look around at US and UK foreign policy, our steady erosion of civil libertis and a slow creep to the political right in the entire western world I think we can agree we probably wouldn't fight it as much as we'd like.

Frank Darabont has twice directed from Stephen King novellas and both efforts were very successful. I would say that this third collaboration comes somewhere in the middle - tenser and with more to say than the Green Mile but without the investment in the characters of Shawshank. The hand held style of camerwork is very effectively, especially in the intense nighttime siege where I really felt I was part of the battle.

A lot has been said about the changes between the book and the film especially the ending. Personally I feel Darabont made the right choice. He gives us an ending that's much more cinematic and tragic than the books "hope".

Overall The Mist is well worth forking out the price of a ticket. I can't wait to see the next time Marcia Gay Harden plays a role like this.