In the opening scene, Derek comes home to Joy, and he is in a very foul mood. Later he gets very violent, kills her dog and strangles her. We flash six months forward, and Joy's good friend Carmen has her and Tara going on a women's retreat in the Canadian Rockies, where the leader, Dr. Dunnley says risk = growth. All the women have suffered great trauma and are working on getting it behind them. There are a number of things that really made this movie for me. For one thing, they sold, through acting, just how strenuous portions of the trip were. As a person who has done backing in mountain wilderness, I really appreciated that they seem to have their pack worn properly, and also didn't suddenly pull out things that they could not have carried in their packs. I find all too often movies of a similar nature fail that, as the actors have never done anything like that before, and they never research how things would be. Through most of the movie, the demons seemed to be from within their own traumas. Derek would often play with his lighter, and Joy seemed to feel she heard the clicks of the lighter as if she was being tracked. Others had their own demons to cope with. But near the end, a more terrifying demon is unleashed.
Review of Dark Nature
