Brave the Dark Review: The Value of Helping Others

Damian Harris and Angel Studios’ Brave the Dark is a suitably inspirational drama, featuring two potent central performances.

Their business model might be questionable, as it involves the inflation of their movies’ box office figures, but at least they’ve been managing to make better things than the aforementioned Sound of Freedom.

Which, of course, takes us to their most recent production, Brave the Dark. What we have here is a movie ostensibly based on a true story that manages to be rather inspirational and intriguing without feeling manipulative or exaggerated. Yes, it’s not particularly amazing on a visual level and some of its narrative beats can be quite predictable. But as a drama whose main objective is to show audiences the way people can inspire others, and how helping those in need can pay its dividends, it’s not bad at all. It certainly helps that director and co-writer Damian Harris made sure to cast really good actors for the film’s main roles.

Nicholas Hamilton (of Captain Fantastic and It) plays Nathan Williams, a high schooler who seems, on the surface, to have it all: he runs for the athletic team, has a beautiful girlfriend named Tina (Sasha Bhasin) and appears to be quite popular. But in reality, he has many more problems than the average kid: he’s living out of his car, doesn’t talk to any member of his family, and keeps dreaming about some traumatic events from his childhood.

These problems are what lead him to rob a store alongside his friends, who are desperate to prove how cool they are. And when Nathan gets caught by the police, it seems he’s got no one to help him. Enter Stan Deen (underrated character actor Jared Harris, of Chernobyl, The Crown, Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows and many more), his drama teacher at school, and one of the most popular and friendliest people in town. It is he who decides to rescue him from jail, take him in, and give him a chance to prove to people that he’s not a criminal. Unfortunately, this won’t be easy for Nathan, especially as his traumatic memories keep appearing in his dreams.

At its core, Brave the Dark is about two things: the relationship that builds between Nathan and Stan, and the trauma that the former must confront in order to find peace. Since the movie takes place in the 80s, there’s not a lot of talk about therapy and nobody even considers sending Nathan to counselling, so it’s pretty much up to Stan to help him on a psychological level. Additionally, he gives him a house to live in and motivates him to go to school. Thus, he turns into a father figure for Nathan, replacing all the bad male influences he’s had throughout his short life.

All of this is constructed through a pretty interesting narrative, in which the conflict doesn’t include any villain per se, but involves Stan trying to help Nathan, and said young man resisting, convinced that he’s a terrible person, the same as his father. In a way, then, Brave the Dark is also about nature versus nurture: is Nathan rebelling because he was born that way; because he can’t help being aggressive and committing crimes and stalking people? Or is he like that because of all the trauma he went through? And most importantly: can Stan help him change with kindness and love and understanding?

Thematically, then, I’m sure Brave the Dark checks all the boxes a Christian-theme studio such as Angel is looking for. But even if one isn’t a Christian – such as myself – the movie works on a human level, allowing the viewer to relate to Nathan, and wanting Stan to help him. There’s nothing overtly religious in Brave the Dark, as far as I could tell, which means Harris and team want to appeal to a broader audience with its film. The movie isn’t for Angel Studios fans only, but for anyone who’s looking for a fairly well-made drama with an interesting story and strong performances.

Predictably, Jared Harris is really good as Stan, playing him as a charismatic loner who misses his mother a lot, and is trying to help Nathan out of the goodness of his heart, but also because he has a void in his life he needs to fill. Stan is eccentric and well-meaning and has a line he likes to repeat (“this too shall pass”) to inspire others, but he’s also human and flawed enough not to seem like a perfect little angel. It is Nicholas Hamilton, though, who carries most of the story on his back, turning Nathan into someone worth rooting for. He plays him as a victim of his circumstances, and as someone who has to confront his trauma in order to move on. He’s never too evil or violent, and Hamilton doesn’t play him as a psychopath – otherwise, the movie wouldn’t have worked at all.

Brave the Dark is neither a revolutionary drama nor a particularly amazing experience. The direction can be quite bland at times, with Harris not really using a lot of audiovisual resources in order to make the story even more interesting. And although the narrative manages to be inspirational enough, most of its twists and turns are easy to guess, which turns the film into a pretty predictable experience. Nevertheless, thanks to its earnest tone, potent performances and solid character work, it is easy to recommend Brave the Dark as an emotional and believable drama. There’s nothing too brave about it, but thankfully, there’s quite a bit to enjoy.

Brave the Dark will be released in over 2,000 US theatres on January 24, 2025.