By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Acclaimed at festivals, it’s getting wider release next month.
Chroma gave us the first look at the new poster for THE STRANGE DARK, which it will release on Apple TV, Prime Video, and Fandango at Home January 16. The movie has played 27 fests and won numerous awards, including Audience Awards for Best Feature at the Nevermore Film Festival, the Dark Matter Film Festival and the Lighthouse International Film Festival. Written and directed by Chris Messineo, it stars Nili Bassman, Caleb Scott, Carmen Borla, Bates Wilder, John Beckwith, Carson Jean Holley and Athan Sporek. The synopsis: “THE STRANGE DARK follows Susan [Bassman], a woman who finds her family’s safety on the line and must choose who to trust: her husband who claims he can see the future, or mysterious strangers at her door.”
THE STRANGE DARK marks Messineo’s feature debut following numerous shorts, and 15 years running the New Jersey Film School. When he decided to take a break from teaching to make the movie, he financed it with a very successful crowdfunding campaign. “Not only did we surpass our fundraising goals, but 90 percent of the donations came from my former students,” he says. “It felt like the end of IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE where I got a chance to see how many lives I had touched. What made it even more special was getting to work with many of my students on the film, and they were amazing! In the end, THE STRANGE DARK is the feature I dreamed of making ever since I started filming and it never would have happened without my students.”
