Out of darkness comes a survival-thriller-turned-monster-movie. A group of desperate survivors flee across a dangerous, inhospitable landscape. Somewhere in the shadows, a mysterious creature is stalking them.
As the danger closes in, our protagonists descend into panic and paranoia, culminating in several gruesome deaths. Perfected by films like and , it’s a classic monster movie formula. With its Final Girl protagonist and bursts of brutal violence, the 2023 horror thriller also draws a lot of inspiration from the slasher genre.
However its unusual setting offers an ambitious twist on these familiar tropes. Filmed in the Scottish Highlands, it’s a survival horror story set 45,000 years in the past, in a bleak landscape where starvation is a very real possibility. Immersing us even further in this prehistoric atmosphere, director Andrew Cumming opted for a unique storytelling choice: All of the film’s dialogue is spoken in a neolithic constructed language known as Tola.
Unsurprisingly, this somewhat challenging premise did not result in box office success. But with the film’s arrival on Paramount+ this week, it’s ready to find a new audience. couches a grim horror story in the framework of prehistoric legend.
Its opening scenes see the six main characters tell tales around a campfire, mythologizing their perilous decision to break away from a larger community and settle in a new home. Their leader Adem (Chuku Modu) pitched this as a heroic journey to a promised lan.