The Passion of Darkly Noon

The Passion of Darkly Noon is a 1995 psychological drama-suspense film written and directed by Philip Ridley and starring Brendan Fraser in the title role, and co-starring Ashley Judd and Viggo Mortensen.

The protagonist's name and film title come both from a passage in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13: "Now we see through a glass, darkly...".

For the film Ridley was awarded the Best Director Prize at the Porto Film festival.^[1]

Plot synopsis

Darkly Noon (Fraser) is a young man who has spent his entire life as a member of an ultraconservative Christian cult. He received his unusual name from a passage on The Bible. After a violent altercation that results in the dissolution of the cult and the death of Darkly's parents, a disoriented Darkly wanders into a forest in the Appalachian region of North Carolina and is rescued from exhaustion by a coffin transporter named Jude (Loren Dean) and his friend Callie (Ashley Judd).

Callie nurses Darkly back to health, but Darkly is frustrated by the conflict between his religious past and his attraction to his new companion. Darkly's frustration intensifies when Clay (Viggo Mortensen), Callie's mute boyfriend who builds the coffins Jude sells, returns home after being away for a few days. When Darkly encounters Clay's mother, Roxy (Grace Zabriskie), his internal conflicts grow even stronger. Roxy despises the relationship between Clay and Callie, and tells Darkly that she believes Callie is a witch bent on destroying Roxy's family.

Finally, in the film's climax, Darkly's rage boils over. Having wrapped himself in barbed wire and armed with one of Clay's chisels, he bursts into Callie and Clay's house, intent on murdering the couple, whom he discovers having sex. After a scene of horrific destruction, Darkly is finally tamed by Callie's confession that she loves him. Unfortunately for Darkly, Jude arrives, rifle in hand, to rescue Callie and Clay. Jude shoots Darkly, who laments, "Who will love me now?" as he lies dying.

Cast

• Brendan Fraser... Darkly Noon
• Ashley Judd... Callie
• Viggo Mortensen... Clay
• Loren Dean... Jude
• Lou Myers... Quincy
• Grace Zabriskie... Roxy

Critical reception

Entertainment Weekly called The Passion of Darkly Noon "an unintended comedy with a scorcher of an ending", citing poor acting, over-the-top dialogue and implausible plot twists.^[2] Conversely, Fangoria magazine praised the film effusively, citing especially the performance of Brendan Fraser.^[3]

Leading UK film critic Mark Kermode has raved about the film effusively calling it "One of my favourite cinematic experiences of recent years"^[4] and also citing it as "[Ridley's] great unsung work."^[5]

Like Ridley's previous film The Reflecting Skin it has developed a cult following^[6] and in 2014 made the top 10 in The Telegraph's list of the 50 most underrated films of all time.^[7]

References

External links

• The Passion of Darkly Noon at the Internet Movie Database