Back to trending
Dark Places

Dark Places

Thriller · Mystery · Drama · 2015

A woman who survived the brutal killing of her family as a child is forced to confront the events of that day.

Movie details

Dark Places

“In 1985, her entire family was murdered. 30 years later, the truth emerges.”

2015 Thriller · Mystery · Drama 1h 53m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

5.9 / 10

Community rating

A woman who survived the brutal killing of her family as a child is forced to confront the events of that day.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Dark Places?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Suburbicon

Suburbicon

Thriller · 2017

In the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and murder.

The Client

The Client

Drama · 1994

A street-wise kid, Mark Sway, sees the suicide of Jerome Clifford, a prominent Louisiana lawyer, whose current client is Barry 'The Blade' Muldano, a Mafia hit-man. Before Jerome shoots himself, he tells Mark where the body of a Senator is buried. Clifford shoots himself and Mark is found at the scene, and both the FBI and the Mafia quickly realize that Mark probably knows more than he says.

Fallen

Fallen

Crime · 1998

Homicide detective John Hobbes witnesses the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese. Soon after the execution the killings start again, and they are very similar to Reese's style.

Back Roads

Back Roads

Crime · 2019

A young man cares for his younger sisters after their mother is imprisoned for murdering their abusive father. When he strikes up an affair with a married woman, long-dormant family secrets bubble to the surface.

Deadfall

Deadfall

Crime · 2012

A thriller that follows two siblings who decide to fend for themselves in the wake of a botched casino heist, and their unlikely reunion during another family's Thanksgiving celebration.

Violent Ends

Violent Ends

Thriller · 2025

Lucas Frost, an honest man brought up in a crime family whose only legacy is violence, tries to make his own life with his fiancée, Emma. He is suddenly pulled back into the family business he so despises when his cousin, Eli, perpetrates an armed robbery on a local scrap yard and an innocent life is caught in the crossfire.

Out of the Furnace

Out of the Furnace

Thriller · 2013

Two brothers live in the economically-depressed Rust Belt, when a cruel twist of fate lands one in prison. His brother is then lured into one of the most violent crime rings in the Northeast.

Cape Fear

Cape Fear

Drama · 1991

Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.

State of Grace

State of Grace

Drama · 1990

Hell's Kitchen, New York. Terry Noonan returns home after a ten-year absence. He soon reconnects with Jackie, a childhood friend and member of the Irish mob, and rekindles his love affair with Jackie's sister Kathleen.

Sleepers

Sleepers

Crime · 1996

Two gangsters seek revenge on the state jail worker who during their stay at a youth prison sexually abused them. A sensational court hearing takes place to charge him for the crimes.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Gilles Paquet-Brenner

Written by

Gilles Paquet-Brenner

Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron

Libby Day

Nicholas Hoult

Nicholas Hoult

Lyle Wirth

Chloë Grace Moretz

Chloë Grace Moretz

Young Diondra Wertzner

Christina Hendricks

Christina Hendricks

Patty Day

Tye Sheridan

Tye Sheridan

Young Ben Day

Corey Stoll

Corey Stoll

Ben Day

Andrea Roth

Andrea Roth

Diondra Wertzner

Court is in session

Put Dark Places on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.