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Spending years practically shunning his widowed mother Celeste (Shannon
Day), Keegan (Blaise Embry) decides to pay her a visit for her birthday,
bringing along his boyfriend Wil (Timo Descamps) ... and to his shock, he
learns his mother has remarried 6 months ago, a doctor called Adrian (Andy
Copeland), whose son Jake (Sean Paul Lockhart) has all the hallmarks of a
dim-witted bully and who makes sure Keegan feels really awkward
about this - which eventually leads to Keegan beating up Jake, being
thrown out of the house, and crashing his car in frustration. When he's in
hospital and he's almost killed by morphium he's allergic to despite
making his allergy known to his doctor - Adrian - he gets suspicious that
there might be something more sinister behind mum's new husband, something
that goes beyond a spoilt brat not willing to accept the new man in mum's
life. He soon learns how mum's winegrowing business has turned into a gret
success since he has left, thanks to Adrian and also thanks to Ernie
(Eduardo Rioseco), a young lawyer and also Keegan's ex whom he has wronged
years back. And actually, there is a dark secret in Keegan's past,
something that has to do with his own foolishness and the death of his dad
and brother because of it, which caused the rift between him and his
mother - and speaking of mum, soon after he's released from hospital,
Celeste falls into a coma, and Keegan just refuses to believe in natural
causes, Wil leaves him for good because Keegan's a little too driven to
see foul play everywhere, and Ernie is a little too interested to help him
- and suddenly, Keegan, who's graced (or cursed, given some of his
memories) with photographic memory, starts to piece together the jigsaw
puzzle that less and less seems to be the product of his over-active
imagination or paranoia, and more and more a case of actual theft and
murder ... but the deeper he gets into this, the more his own life is at
stake ... Marketed primarily for its gay content, this doesn't
actually do The Dark Place much justice - because at its heart,
this is just a really cool thriller ... with some gay persons in its cast
of characters, sure, but once you can get over men kissing one another
(which is pretty much as "gay" as it gets) and look at the story
at hand, you'll find a beautifully constructed mystery. Sure, it's complex
and convoluted, but it really pays off to see the thing through to the
end. Plus, Blaise Embry really gives a great central performance as
someone you will not love (or even like) right away (as his character
doesn't necessarily like himself) but who grows on one during the duration
of the film, and he's supported by a great ensemble. And add to that a
subtle directorial effort, and you've got yourself a really nice movie,
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