A slow-burn ghost story that seems to be playing into convention even as it sneakily plants the seeds to turn the genre on its head, Dave Boyle’s clever and involving “Never After Dark” starts with a rather familiar premise: A medium is hired to expunge a dark spirit from a big house in the middle of nowhere. In this case, the “middle of nowhere” is a massive house in the forests of Hokkaido (a real property in Kiyosato that feels like it was designed as a fan tribute to the Overlook Hotel), and the medium is a jaded young thirtysomething who’s more afraid of the living than she is of the dead.But, in the first of the movie’s curious wrinkles, there’s an unusual reason why Airi — played by “Shōgun” highlight Moeka Hoshi, who delivers a fun and forceful performance that’s always teetering right on the edge of control — is so comfortable with the deceased: She’s intimately haunted by a (sweet and encouraging) ghost of her own, that of her teenaged big sister, Miku (Kurumi Inagaki), who’s still and forever the same age that she was when she died.That introductory detail proves to be an important clue as to how this movie will play with time, as Boyle’s spare and patient script gradually begins to conflate the thin line between this world and the next with the line between the present and the past — to blur one of those boundaries is also to blur the other. That confusion is somewhat implicit in all ghost stories, but “Never After Dark” seizes upon it in fascinatingly direct ways as Airi struggles to exorcize her latest target, and its “been there, done that” things going bump in the night first half gives way to a second one in which the film’s ronin ghostbuster is forced to mix things up and banish a living person to the other side of the veil instead of banishing a dead person’s ghost from this one.Now you might be thinking: “Isn’t ‘banish a living person to the other side of the veil’ just medium-speak for committing murder?” And… well, yes. But it’s a testament to the detail of Boyle’s film — which is modestly scaled but immersively self-contained — that “Never After Dark” is able to redefine the rules of this mortal coil on its own terms. That starts with the mechanics of Airi’s practice, which are as familiar in function as they are novel in form, and, typical of the “Man from Reno” filmmaker’s work, blend Eastern and Western tropes into the stuff of a singular genre exercise.~this review continues on IndieWire~
Fantasy FilmFest 2026So that’s a good start, old school spine-chiller like out of the good old times. The setting has something of The Shining, the story is more a classic necromancy. There is an old hotel mansion in the middle of the woods. Ari is a young medium that can get in contact with lost souls to help them to get free and leave the place. Something is in this place but with darker secrets she hasn’t encounter before. Ari carries her dead sister Miku with her as a ghost and an accompanying sense. There are just a handful of people in this film. Beautiful cast, especially Moeka Hoshi!And wow does this film look good and moody!This is fully an autumn movie, that forest, autumnal colored moss on the roof, natural and earthy colors. The hotel has an interesting architecture outside and inside. A lot of polished wood and a beautiful interior. What’s most special is the lighting, light sources, sun exposure. The cinematography plays a lot with shadows and light, most beautifully. The gorgeous moody score of Jonathan Snipes that adapts to the scenes, sometimes it is even part of this great sound design. I love the equipment Ari uses to create contact. There is one director that currently matches to this kind of atmospheric filmmaking, Damian McCharty. This film shares even pretty much with Hokum. But I think Never After Dark is more what I wished Hokum could be. I guess this is the better film. It’s a slow burn but it is beautifully slow burning with Ari through the house and through the trees. And when she puts on that record “Silhouette” with the vocals of Sharon Udoh echoing through the floors and Ari is dancing, I felt amazed! There is also real horror, some of it is pretty intense and old-school handmade. At the ending it is turning like a spintop and I was a little confused to understand this clearly. A very special film, an audio-visually very beautiful film, a captivating film. I was thinking about going with 4,5. I think about this when I can do a rewatch and explore it even better. 2026 is a good year for horror and this is a little gem to discover. I think Dave Boyle is also an interesting director to look out for. An American filmmaker that makes his films in Japan with a Japanese cast. His next project is a remake of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse. Definitely interesting!!
BIFFF 2026 Golden Raven winnerA traveling psychic sees dead people, including her older sister, who looks younger now. She is hired to cleanse a haunted hotel, not unlike the Overlook, but without the annoying Jack Nicolson or that little bugger with squeaky tricycle. Turns out the hotel is haunted by the Tooth Fairy. Our lovely medium needs to catch him without the help Hannibal Lecter. Her dead sister ain't a big help either. What can you expect from a dead sister? This story needs a twist. It is there. I don't buy it.
