NEVER AFTER DARK Trailer Teases a Haunting Psychic Horror Story That Stephen King Calls “Amazing”
A psychic medium, a dead sister who refuses to leave her side, and a country house hiding something seriously nasty. Never After Dark has all the ingredients for a creepy supernatural horror movie, and the trailer offers our first real look at what’s waiting inside.
The film has already picked up some impressive support from horror heavyweights. Stephen King praised the movie as “amazing and haunting,” which should put it on the radar of genre fans looking for their next nightmare.
Scott Derrickson, director of Sinister and The Black Phone, was even more enthusiastic, calling the film “intelligent, unpredictable and bone-chilling. A deftly directed, richly cinematic supernatural horror film. One of the best of the year.”
Never After Dark follows Airi, a wandering psychic medium played by Moeka Hoshi (Shōgun). Airi travels from place to place helping restless spirits leave the world of the living, but she doesn’t make those journeys alone. Her constant companion is her dead sister, Miku, played by Kurumi Inagaki.
Airi eventually receives a request from Teiko, played by Tae Kimura, the new owner of an isolated country house plagued by a supernatural presence. What initially appears to be another spirit in need of an exorcism quickly becomes something much more dangerous.
The official logline explains: “Never After Dark is about “a wandering medium, Airi (Hoshi), who spends her life guiding restless spirits out of the world of the living accompanied by her constant companion: her dead sister Miku (Inagaki).
“Summoned to exorcize a spirit from an isolated country house by the new owner, Teiko (Kimura), she comes face to face with a grotesque apparition with powers that defy Airi’s experience.
“Faced with skepticism from Teiko’s son, Gunji (Kako), she digs deeper into the house’s past until a secret comes to light — and Airi finds herself hunted by a far more unpredictable force. For the first time, her greatest adversary is not the supernatural, but the living.”
That final twist gives Never After Dark an interesting angle. Airi has built her life around dealing with ghosts and restless spirits, so she understands the rules of that world. The real danger comes when the mystery surrounding the house pulls her toward something she isn’t prepared to confront.
The movie was written and directed by Dave Boyle, whose previous films include Big Dreams Little Tokyo and Man from Reno. Joining Hoshi, Inagaki, and Kimura in the cast are Kento Kaku as Gunji, Mutsuo Yoshioka, and Bokuzō Masana.
Never After Dark has also been building a strong reputation on the festival circuit ahead of its theatrical debut. The movie screened at the Overlook Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Feature Film.
Magnolia Pictures will release Never After Dark in theaters on September 25. It looks great and I’ll be looking forward to watching it!