The Deep Dark (2023) is a French horror film directed by Mathieu Turi. It follows a group of mine workers who uncover an ancient creature while escorting a professor deep underground. Below is my The Deep Dark (2023) movie review
The film is entirely in French, with some use of other languages such as Arabic (the main character is referred to as Arab). Despite some initial tension, the group ultimately accepts anyone who proves to be a hard worker. Once they’re down in the mine, everyone looks the same—appearance becomes irrelevant in that environment. Without going too deeply into the plot, the movie takes its time getting started. In fact, the creature doesn’t appear until roughly 45 minutes into this 90-minute runtime. The film focuses heavily on setup, building the story and giving us time to connect with the miners. Some are likable, while others are greedy and clearly marked for an early death.
When the creature is finally introduced, its design is strong—at least in my opinion. However, when it spreads its arms, they appear flimsy, almost as if you can see the strings holding them up. This unfortunately makes it less intimidating. We do learn more about its backstory, which is genuinely interesting, but seeing it in full light exposes its flaws. The film uses a lot of strobe lighting in dark scenes to enhance the creature’s presence, but this feels like a way to mask its weaknesses. As a viewer, I found this disappointing because I wanted to see the creature in action more clearly and more often.
In terms of action, the cinematography is solid. There are plenty of claustrophobic sequences deep within the mine, creating a strong sense of tension and confinement. There’s also a persistent feeling of hopelessness, as the creature seems completely unkillable. Given its ancient origins, the question becomes: how do you even defeat something like this? The characters, as mentioned, are varied. Some are just trying to earn a living, others are driven by greed—willing to loot the dead for profit—and a few genuinely care about their fellow workers and simply want to survive the shift.
The kills are inconsistent. Some happen off-camera or are shown without much detail, while a few are quite brutal and bloody. One of the film’s disappointments is how little it explores the history of what’s found in the mine, particularly the dead bodies—it’s touched on, but not developed.
Overall, the movie is good, but it feels like it needed more substance. It’s definitely watchable, but not something I’d revisit. As mentioned earlier, nearly an hour is spent on character development, yet the creature—despite having an intriguing backstory—doesn’t get the same level of exploration. The ending, which quite literally goes out with a blast, left me somewhat confused about what happened next and how the deaths of so many people would be explained to the authorities.
Thanks for reading my The Deep Dark (2023) movie review
