Every classic horror film has that scene. The scene that defines the experience for a first-time viewer, the scene friends all talk about after it ends, the scene spoken of and dissected by film analysts for years following its release. There’s Psycho’s shower, Hereditary’s car, Halloween’s closet, The Shining’s… everything, really. The Mist certainly has that scene, but I’ll get to that later.
The Mist is a highly overdue passion project from filmmaker Frank Darabont. Darabont worked in horror for years, writing the third Nightmare on Elm Street film and a remake of The Blob in the late 1980s. Before taking over the critical world in 1994 with The Shawshank Redemption. After following up five years later with The Green Mile, Darabont took a break from directing when his 2001 effort, The Majestic, flopped and received mixed reviews.
After years of writing and development, in January of 2007, his latest project began production. Darabont has said that he had wanted to adapt The Mist since before he had even directed The Shawshank Redemption. His intent was to make a film that felt more raw, even hiring a large amount of the television crew from The Shield to serve as his crew after working with them on an episode.
“The audience is meant to feel as if they’re constantly watching what’s happening over someone’s shoulder.”
The Mist itself is unlike any Stephen King adaptation that’s come before or after it. The audience is meant to feel as if they’re constantly watching what’s happening over someone’s shoulder. Isolated and trapped along with the characters of the film. The TV crew brings a visceral and immersive tone with the camerawork. The sudden zooms and consistent handheld camera movements throw the audience off any time they think they have a frame of what’s happening.
All of that is blended well with the contrast of intentionally corny dialogue and a wide range of characters that all fit a very specific purpose in the narrative. Bringing a classically written story, arguably fit for the stage, to a modern interpretation and delivery.
The setting of the film is one of the most unique things about The Mist. Not only the supermarket itself, but where the supermarket is in the world, are incredibly important to how the narrative operates. The small town feels like it has existed before the movie began. Characters we’ve just been introduced to call each other by name like they would every day.
Even when the inciting incident comes, and a man with a horrible nosebleed runs into the supermarket screaming bloody murder, the first thing that happens is that Ollie, the older bag boy, calls the man by name. The familiarity and the perceived notions that all of these people have for each other makes the slow descent into chaos all the more effective and frightening. With Mrs. Carmody going from the crazy religious nut that no one likes to the monarch for the survivors of the wasteland.
“The familiarity and the perceived notions that all of these people have for each other makes the slow descent into chaos all the more effective and frightening.”
Thomas Jane as David Drayton is a very compelling horror protagonist. He tries hard to establish order, keep everyone calm, and figure out what’s happening as soon as the mist rolls in. We attach ourselves to David and his rational thinking as he tries to do what’s best for all of these people, including his young son Billy. Jane is a pretty underrated actor, and he brings a lot to the table here. He struggles to stay calm, he lashes out at another survivor for making a bad call that gets someone killed, yet all the while tries to maintain his composure for the sake of bringing the survivors together in their struggle to make it through.
By the end, when the film asks a lot of Jane with virtually no dialogue. He delivers that just as strongly as any of his gruff dialogue from before, and you still feel as if you’re in his place. Agreeing with almost every decision he makes until you realize what he’s done in the process.
While The Mist is riddled with tension, it’s also very pulpy. A lot of smaller characters in the film fit into smaller boxes that the audience can pick out and decide “Hey, I like this character.” Irene, an older teacher with a pension for throwing cans of peas and homemade flamethrowers, always seems to be a fan favorite.
The monsters are also very reminiscent of 1950s American monster flicks. Complete with large locusts, spiders, crabs, a preying mantis, and a colossal being that looks like something Lovecraft saw in a nightmare and was too scared to write about it. The low budget digital effects on the monsters aren’t the best, and that’s putting it lightly.
“The monsters are also very reminiscent of 1950s American monster flicks.”
Darabont wanted to film The Mist in black and white, but the studio refused to allow it. Later when the film was released to DVD, a black and white edit of the film was added as a sort-of Director’s Cut. I think that the monochromatic color palette is closer to the type of film that Darabont was trying to create, and the lack of color helps to cover up most of the shoddy CGI.
The theme of religion in The Mist is a broad stroke that takes on many forms. Mrs. Carmody is constantly sound in her faith, giving her the resolve to continue and lead the survivors on. But when they turn into a murderous cult, David is forced to flee with the few people seemingly still sane. While one could argue that Carmody’s teachings are violent, sadistic and overall wrong, it does bring a large group of the survivors to a common effort. Even if that effort involves regularly sacrificing one of their own to appease “the wrath of God.”
With this, Darabont is able to tackle how religion can be used as a tool for hope. While also a weapon for fearmongering and political dispatch, with Carmody eagerly letting her following maim and sacrifice anyone who gets in her way. Until Ollie finally does what audiences probably wanted someone to do for the whole film, put a bullet in her head. If only he hadn’t shot her twice…
Now we get to that scene. At any point after Mrs. Carmody’s death, the film could potentially end. Whether on an ambiguous note just as the small group leaves the supermarket. Or on a sad realization that the world is beyond hope after David finds his dead wife and berates himself for not having fixed the broken window, which could have led to her survival.
“Darabont pulls you away, like a child’s eyes covered by their parent. But you still feel your heart sink.”
However, Darabont is keen on finishing what he started. While King’s novella ends on an optimistic note, with David leaving the supermarket alone and attempting to follow a radio signal to find other survivors, this version of the story is much crueler. When David’s car runs out of gas, the survivors realize that there’s only one way left to keep from being torn apart by the monsters outside. Five passengers, four bullets.
The characters all find one last moment of resolve, with Irene commenting that no one would be able to say that they didn’t try. As Billy wakes up just before the act can take place, the camera cuts away from the car. The audience is denied the final moment with these characters. Darabont pulls you away, like a child’s eyes covered by their parent. But you still feel your heart sink.
This ending is where the theme of religion gets even more complicated. While some theories suggest that with Billy, the wrath of God retreated as Mrs. Carmody predicted, I find that too simplistic. Mrs. Carmody is just as much of a martyr, killed by ungrateful sinners for the purpose of God’s grand plan.
David is kept from salvation because he didn’t respect his neighbor Norton, and other seemingly little things that the Bible points out as the right way to live your life. The woman from the start of the film who leaves to find her children seemingly survives because her motives are pure of heart. And she looks down on David with a scornful eye as she passes by on this world’s salvation.
“With it’s biting commentary and one hell of an ending, The Mist is one of Stephen King’s best adaptations to date.”
While the soldiers who supposedly caused all of this meet unfortunate ends, David’s wife Steff also dies after seemingly doing nothing wrong. But she doesn’t look the same as the others who died at the hands of the monsters. When David sees Steff, she simply looks asleep, trapped in a spider’s web yet untouched and unmutilated by the normal ferocity of the creatures. Steff didn’t die for any of her actions, she died because of David not keeping his promise to her, being killed as part of David’s divine punishment. The same can be said of the other members of the supermarket, with no one dying that was on Carmody’s side, and the ones that would be later sacrificed would simply be seen as a part of their way of keeping God appeased.
The Mist is one of my favorite films from one of my favorite filmmakers. I urge you to seek it out, especially the black and white version. Even if you’ve seen it before, it’s always an interesting film to revisit and immerse yourself in. With it’s biting commentary and one hell of an ending, The Mist is one of Stephen King’s best adaptations to date, and is well worth the massive gut-punch that comes with it.
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