When Darkness Falls – När mörkret faller (2006)

Directed by: Anders Nilsson | 133 minutes | thriller | Actors: Oldoz Javidi, Bahar Pars, Mina Azarian, César Saracho, Zeljko Santrac, Tony Haddad, Elián Jajjo, Amin Alabadi, Alice Dadgostar, Annika Hallin, Mark Zak, Johanna Lazcano Osterman, Nour El-Refai, Eivin Dahlgren, Nina Syvalammi, Nina Johansson, Stefanie Basmaji, Susanna Basmaji, Lone Jeppesen, Maweje Kuddiza, Tommy Antonsson, Uwe Mansshardt, Ramadan Yausry, Hannelore Schumann, Lia Boysen, Peter Engman, Simon Engman, Tuva Sällström, Anja Lundkvist, Bibidmas Strömberg, Fyrberg Bolme, Catharina Alinder, Lars Väringer, Cliff Otterberg, Åsa Kärner, Petra Hallberg, Ritsa Papacunstantinou, Kristian Lima de Faria, Donald Högberg, Helén Söderqvist Henriksson, Fredric Egerstrand, Harry Goldstein, Maria Hörnelius, Jan Elfwencrona, Michaela Berner, Anna Maria León Reuben Sallmander, Per Graffman, Nisti Stërk, Jonatan Blode, Christopher Wollter, Tobias Aspelin, Ashkan Ghods, Magnus Roosmann, Ralph Carlsson, Jan Coster, Per ‘Johan’ Johansson, Jörgen Lönnquist, Zoltan Bajkai, Fredrik Eriksson, Martin Zetterlund, Pär Westberg, Tine Erlandsson, Mia Guldbrand

Very strong and at times impressive film from Sweden, in which three stories are told side by side, with the above themes as mutual connection. The three stories are titled: ‘Layla’, ‘Carina’ and ‘Aram’, named after the central characters in each of the segments. Each of the stories provides a penetrating picture of people whose everyday activities suddenly or insidiously change and their home is no longer a safe place.

Aram (Reuben Sallmander) has to flee when the criminals who shot his doorman Peter (Per Graffman) find out about his address. Carina (Lia Boysen) is abused at home by her husband Håkan (Peter Engman), who is also a journalist and whose aggression is motivated by jealousy. Finally, Layla (Oldoz Javidi) suffers from the strict rules of her parents, who are part of an unspecified immigrant family. At the same time, the hypocritical behavior of the people around them and the legal system in Sweden are also questioned. One of the main messages of the film is that such events are the order of the day, even though as viewers we may think that this is not happening to us. The picture that director Anders Nilsson paints of society and its inhabitants is not very positive, although the behavior of the main characters is admirable.

‘When Darkness Falls’ has an unusual structure, the three segments actually form three separate films, with no overlapping storylines and characters. This makes the film different from other episodic films in which multiple characters are followed such as ‘Shorts Cuts’, ‘Crash’ or ‘Pulp Fiction’. Although the switching of scenes is not disturbing at all due to the excellent editing and the high tempo, it is actually three mini-movies in one. The makers could have easily extracted three captivating and intriguing films from the material. Without a doubt, the part about ‘Layla’ is the most powerful of all. Her story and that of her older sister Nina (Bahar Pars) is haunting and very sad. The honor killing Nina falls victim to is so painful that it is sometimes difficult to watch. As mentioned, it is possible to guess the ethnic origin of her family, but director Nilsson and co-author Joakim Hansson mislead the viewer who assumes that they are Muslim. Whether this is an extra statement about existing prejudices or a politically correct attitude that invalidates that message is up for debate. The fact remains that it does not matter what religion you have if it is abused to punish (alleged) socially unwelcome behavior in this way.

After the drastic and breathtaking scenes around the motel in Germany where Layla’s family solves the problem ‘Nina’, the film loses its initial strength and it becomes clear that the stories about Carina and Aram are less well developed in terms of content. ‘When Darkness Falls’ confronts and asks uncomfortable questions, to which concrete answers cannot be given. Due to the excellent acting performances of Javidi and Boysen in particular, the film remains haunted afterwards. And that is quite a credit.