Dark Places (2015 film)
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International release poster
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| Directed by | Gilles Paquet-Brenner |
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| Screenplay by | Gilles Paquet-Brenner |
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Dark Places by Gillian Flynn |
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| Cinematography | Barry Ackroyd |
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Running time
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112 minutes |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $20 million |
| Box office | $3.5 million |
Dark Places is a 2015 mystery thriller film directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner. The screenplay, by Paquet-Brenner, is based on Gillian Flynn's 2009 novel of the same name. It stars Charlize Theron, Christina Hendricks, Nicholas Hoult, and Chloë Grace Moretz.
The film was released in France on April 8, 2015, and in the United States on August 7, 2015, by A24. It is the second film Theron and Hoult have collaborated on, after Mad Max: Fury Road.
The film opens in 1985 in Kinnakee, Kansas, where Libby Day is the sole survivor of the massacre of her mother and two sisters. She tells the police that her brother Ben (Sheridan) committed the crime. In the present day, Libby (Theron) has made a living off of donations sent by strangers to the little girl they saw on the news. With donations drying up, she is hard up for cash when she is approached by Lyle Wirth (Hoult) to make a personal appearance at his true crime club. She agrees to go and answer questions about her past for $700.
Back in 1985, Ben comes to the breakfast table with his hair dyed black. He has a tense relationship with his mother Patty (Hendricks) and his eldest sister Michelle, who taunts Ben about being a loner and rumors that surround him at school. Ben hangs out with a Satanist bookie named Trey Teepano. Meanwhile, Patty is informed that her farm is being foreclosed on, despite her best efforts to stay afloat.
At Wirth's club, Libby finds out that most of the members believe her brother Ben is innocent. He was only convicted because of Libby's testimony. Convinced that Ben is guilty, Libby nevertheless agrees to work with the club in return for much needed money. Urged by Wirth to visit Ben, Libby's curiosity about what motivated him to kill her family prods her to keep researching the case.
Prior to the murders, Ben was planning to run away with his pregnant girlfriend Diondra (Moretz). Meanwhile, several young girls have accused Ben of molesting them. When Patty is informed of the charges, she visits the home of the chief accuser Krissi Cates, whose father is irate and looking to harm Ben. Patty is distraught by the accusations and feels that she has failed her kids. Back home, their father Runner (Bridgers) is waiting for Patty. He needs money to skip town because he owes Trey more than he can repay. He is violent and abusive towards Patty. He attempts to rip her ruby necklace off in order to pawn it and steals some money from her wallet.
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