The Passion of Darkly Noon (1995)

The Passion of Darkly Noon: Directed by Philip Ridley. With Brendan Fraser, Ashley Judd, Viggo Mortensen, Loren Dean. A young man who has spent his life as a member of an ultraconservative Christian cult, loses his parents and becomes disoriented, wandering into a forest and meeting a coffin transporter, a caring woman, her mute boyfriend, and his mother.

“I watched this film yesterday and was pretty blown away by it. Itu0026#39;s very much like a magical realist novel in how it mixes aspects of modern life and society with fairy tale mythology and a general dreamlike atmosphere.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe story is basically about a young man named Darkly Noon who has been brought up by religious fanatics and who stumbles upon a weird u0026quot;familyu0026quot; of three that lives deep in the woods after his parents are murdered. These people consist of Callie, a women who is so beautiful and sensual sheu0026#39;s being compared to a force of nature, her mute boyfriend and a third young man. At the beginning Darkly, played by Brendan Fraser who is actually downright awesome in this film, is alone with Callie, which causes a lot of confusion as heu0026#39;s attracted to her and his sexual desires clash with both his religious dogmas and, upon his return, with her boyfriend. Thereu0026#39;s also a strange old woman living in the woods who claims that Callie is in fact a witch who seduces and kills every man she meets and also accuses her of having murdered most of her family. With that in mind Darkly, who has been continuously mutilating himself to control his urges, decides Callie needs to be punished for her sins against god. Things go very wrong from there…u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe Passion of Darkly Noon is a tough film to describe because there really are not a lot of movies that are anything like it. Itu0026#39;s part thriller, part dark erotic drama, part supernatural horror and part fairy tale. Now try to wrap your mind around that … It is expertly and effectively directed by Philip Ridley, who has only directed this film and THE REFLECTING SKIN a few years before it and spends most of his time writing childrenu0026#39;s books. Which makes sense because DARKLY NOON bears some resemblance to the simplicity of the narratives of childrenu0026#39;s books. Itu0026#39;s just that it goes into extremely dark and adult territory instead of remaining wholesome and family-friendly. The performances by everyone involved are great, Fraser really surprised me with his portrayal of Darkly. The guy once had some promise before he decided to squander it all in ridiculous braindead blockbusters. Ashley Judd, who plays Callie, also does a great job with a very difficult role. Callie is incredibly seductive, naive, playful and almost childlike all at once and Judd pulls it off admirably. Her mute boyfriend is played by Viggo Morensen and heu0026#39;s also good in a role that requires him to convey everything with gestures alone. Special praise has to go to Nick Bicat for a truly haunting score that fits the style of the film and John de Bormanu0026#39;s lush cinematography perfectly.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTHE PASSION OF DARKLY NOON is the best film I have seen in a long time and a genuine discovery.”