Darkness in Tenement 45 by Nicole Groton

When I write my reviews I tend to ‘live-blog’ them, giving my honest impression as I go. I review a lot of indie games, usually coming in cold – with very little context – and it is usually not hard to tell what level of polish we will face by the time the intro screen is done. Writer-director Nicole Groton’s debut feature-length film Darkness In Tenement 45 is no exception – a series of yellow archival footage over an of score prepares us for a home movie, a passion project. The film, which was primarily funded through a Kickstarter campaign features over 20 associate producers in the end credits and ten pages of 2 columns of backers – roughly 460 backers! That is a lot of faith in this project.

But as we get to picture – we see a highly stylized world that feels like some out of early Jeunet – Delicatessen, or City of Lost Children: green patina walls, lit candles, brass candelabras, jade and ochre color palette.

A broad spectrum of ethnic and age-diverse characters are introduced early on (which always is refreshing) – using a performing style that feels almost whimsical; they all speak in a sort of mid-Atlantic pentameter: are they a commune? Does living in a bunker cause you speak like a Mennonite? Was this a creative decision? It is like watching a school play that still somehow keeps you from leaving for the restroom.

We begin with the group gathering around a table with all the characters discussing their inventory list – standard post-apocalyptic fetishism. Here the score turns into subdued woodwinds and strings-driven melodrama, distant horns that might be the horns of Gabriel from Thomas Newman’s score for Michael Tolkin’s The Rapture. The score eventually turns to Jackie Gleason-style mid-century big orchestra mood-music – a terrific stylistic twist. Composer Logan Rees, who works from LA but developed his musical career in New Orleans, brings a wonderfully unexpected, swooning and thematic musical context throughout the film.

Turn On Some Lights

The cinematography and lighting are quite good. Though it appears a lot was done with color timing and vignetting in post – the soft light wraps beautifully around the actors’ faces, handling the breadth of skin tones marvellously. Frequently the frame looks like a Norman Rockwell painting hanging on the wall of a Fallout game.

So cumulatively there are some nice creative decisions. On the other hand, the film is painfully slow. It is essentially a soporific Eugene O’Neill play that happens on a bisected two-storey set, that we are watching from the auditorium. I want to make sure to set expectations for anyone coming at this thinking they are signing up for a radioactive apartment horror.

There’s Something Happening Here…

There are some creepy dream sequences and, without giving too much away, a character arc that reminds me of John Wyndham’s novels or the first season of Umbrella Academy – that is to say a little magic realism. The anachronistic visuals – of a 19th-century New England (apparently New York) Architecture blended with Harry S. Truman era trappings (gas masks, etc) lend some mystery and intrigue, but ultimately only allude to a world that may never extend beyond the imagination.

Waiting to Exhale

After I am done watching the film, I pore over the press materials – apparently, someone at Dread Central breathlessly proclaimed this to be a ‘candidate movie of the year’ and an ‘absolute triumph.’ I would point that reviewer to some of the aforementioned materials I have cited in my impressions here, to anchor their astonishment.

That said, the Darkness in Tenement 45 take some chances, for all its references, and pulls off some nice beats. Could be a sign of good things to come from the director. The door has definitely been cracked open.