In 2016, the small Irish-British independent horror film A Dark Songproved you can make one of the best movies of the year even when there’s not much money available. All you need is a good idea, some talented people, and a creative way to incorporate material constraints into the script. Written and directed by Liam Gavin in his feature debut,A Dark Song deserves praise for being a surprisingly realistic and creepy depiction of dark magic rituals. And the film only becomes more impressive when we realize Gavin only had $50,000 to spare, less than a single scene in some blockbuster productions.
What Happens in ‘A Dark Song'?
Image via IFC Midnight
A Dark Song follows Sophia Howard (Catherine Walker), a woman grieving the loss of her seven-year-old son, who’s willing to do anything to get her revenge. That’s why Sophia contacts the misogynistic occultist Joseph Solomon (Steve Oram), a man who can guide her through a complex ritual described in The Book of Abramelin, a tome studied by several mystical figures, including Aleister Crowley. As Joseph explains to Sophia when she requests his services, it cannot be interrupted once the ritual starts. So, the two of them must lock themselves away in an old mansion, performing repetitive and challenging rituals on a daily basis. For months without end, Sophia is forced to ingest specific food, declare specific chants, hold her body in uncomfortable positions, and endure all sorts of cleansing practices. Meanwhile, Joseph helps her draw pentagrams and summon symbols, trying to get in touch with her guardian angel.
Sophia wants to reach out to the supernatural to punish the man who killed her son, and in order to do so, she must abide by Joseph’s orders, putting her sanity and physical integrity at risk. While there are supernatural elements in A Dark Song, the movie mainly revolves around the two characters inside a single location, drastically cutting down its required budget. However, A Dark Song can only be as good as it is because it doesn’t have much money to spare, since it led Gavin to focus on the creepiness of the concept.
’A Dark Song’s Minimal Budget Helped To Focus the Film’s Tone
Image via IFC Midnight
By locking away two people inside a house for months, Gavin created the perfect environment to explore the human psyche. When Sophia and Joseph are not busy with their daily rituals, they are forced to interact with each other, discussing the limits of faith. On one level, A Dark Song is about a woman willing to do anything for revenge. Even so, the movie shines when it forces the audience to question the magical ritual Sophia and Joseph have been performing for months. There is no indication anything is working, but Joseph insists that leaving the house is dangerous and will put their souls at risk. So, in this impossible situation, how much can Sophia endure before she starts to question the integrity of the occultist? She has a goal and poured all her money and energy into it, so she doesn’t want to give up. Still, how long must she endure daily abuses before she wonders if the ritual even works?
Since A Dark Song had such a small budget, the movie's focus shifted from the supernatural elements to the relationship between characters and how much it says about human behavior. That creative choice also allows Gavin to invoke a particular creepiness in each frame of A Dark Song, as our eyes, eager to witness the fruits of the ritual, scour every frame in search of a sign. Like Sophia in the story, the audience also has its faith tested, hoping A Dark Song will unleash the promised horrors and wondering if they’ll ever really come.
There's a lot of ground to cover with this movie if you stick with it.
'A Dark Song's Magic Is Surprisingly Realistic
A Dark Song is also surprisingly realistic when it comes to the magical ritual itself. Gavin did his due research to reproduce occult symbols in the mansion and turn every room in the setting into a place of worship and sacrifice. Every day, Sophia must go through the same number of steps before cleaning, cooking, and getting some rest. We feel the agony of the character as she repeats the same process every day, and this effect wouldn’t be the same if Gavin changed anything in the background.
We have the same set of rooms for almost the entire runtime of A Dark Song, which contributes to the movie's realism and anxiety-inducing process of performing a ritual that actually works. Magic is scary when it takes a toll on the caster, and A Dark Song does a fantastic job showcasing the real effects such an intense procedure has on a human body. Of course, we wouldn’t be so convinced of the plot if Walker and Oram were not such fabulous performers. Still, Gavin directs A Dark Song with enviable attention to detail, crafting his movie as if it were itself a magic ritual. A Dark Song does pay off in the end, and things will get wacky before the credits roll. Nevertheless, that only makes the movie’s budget more impressive, as Gavin had to invest most of his $50,000 into bringing the third arc of A Dark Song to life. In a time when every major theatrical release costs hundreds of millions of dollars, Gavin’s feature debut is a testament to the power of creativity before money and an example of how material constraints can become innovative plot points.
How 'A Dark Song' Redefines the Horror Genre
Image via IFC Midnight
The horror genre has become quite expansive over the years, but for the most part, people expect jump-scares and gloomy lighting. A Dark Song doesn’t simply deliver this, it equally taps into the crippling and very tangible pain of loss. It’s a lot like a mash-up of The Babadook and The Witch. While both films are on different paths, they have that uncanny ability to get under the skin because they’re deeply tied to human emotions like grief, not just spectral apparitions. In A Dark Song, grief isn't just a passenger going along for the ride, it’s in the driver’s seat. Sophia’s willingness to endure physical and mental torment for the occultic ritual is ample proof of this. The ritual itself, which takes months, lots of fasting, blood-drinking, and sleep deprivation, feels more like psychological torture than traditional horror. In its own way, it shifts the genre into somewhat of an uncharted territory.
In more ways than one, A Dark Song is different thanks to how it blends genres, yes there’s a splash of black magic in there, but there’s also that signature slow-burn atmosphere that’s native to psychological dramas. By inserting Catholic themes into its occult framework, A Dark Song leans deeper into this sense of genre hybridization. It’s not just about traditional scares, but internal demons are in the mix. At the end of it all, the movie makes the tension between faith and the supernatural feel like a reflection of how beliefs navigate grief, guilt, and vengeance.
The Power of Silence and Stillness in Storytelling in ‘A Dark Song’
Image via IFC Midnight
Most films use elements like quietness and stillness to signify a break from the chaos, however, A Dark Song isn’t one of those films. In this case, they are quite central to the entire unsettling experience. Where others lean into jump scares and spooky scores to invoke fear, A Dark Song uses unbearable silence. Here, Liam Gavin craftily uses these moments of nothingness to extract the tension and allow the audience to feel the weight of grief and guilt creeping in. Take the ritual itself — during the first two-thirds of the film, Sophie is fasting, staying still for hours, and powering through disconcerting and borderline torturous, isolation.
It goes without saying that this stillness isn’t just for effect. While it adds to the all-around minimalism of the film, it’s equally a reflection of her emotional and spiritual process. As she grapples with her grief, the silence catalyzes her internal chaos. With this in mind, it’s clear that the house plays a role besides being the spooky backdrop for the narrative. Its quiet and rundown rooms are a mirror image of Sophie’s mind, but it doesn’t start out that way. At first, the expansive outdoors adds a sense of freedom, but as the ritual continues, the house essnetially cuts her off from the world. Here, the horror of being alone with her own thoughts is terrifying because in this case, silence isn't golden… it's chilling.
Since the pandemic, we’ve had a burst of movies about people confined in a single setting. Still, A Dark Song remains unbeatable when it comes to creating creepiness in a confined space. Since its small budget is directed at paying good actors and letting them carry the emotional weight of the movie, A Dark Song also doubles down as one of the most realistic horror movies out there. For those reasons, the film deserves a lot more love than it gets, and it should become a top priority both for horror fiends and for lovers of cinema who wish to witness the wonders a talented filmmaker can create despite a lack of funding.
A Dark Song is currently available to stream on Tubi in the U.S.
Custom image by Nimesh Niyomal
Image via IFC Midnight
Image via IFC Midnight
Image via IFC Midnight
Image via IFC Midnight
English (US) ·