‘Out of Darkness’ Interview With Andrew Cumming, Safia Oakley-Green and Kit Young

Years from now, Out of Darkness will be known as the film that spotlighted the flourishing careers of filmmaker Andrew Cumming and actors Safia Oakley-Green and Kit Young. The good news is you can live in the present and catch Out of Darkness in theaters. Immersive from a visual and narrative standpoint, Out of Darkness centers on six people who are trying to survive in an unforgiving environment. A mysterious stalker is threatening their existence, and they must figure out how to survive amidst overwhelming obstacles. Cumming, Oakley-Green and Young talked to Deepest Dream about the ambitious new feature which was set 45,000 years ago.

Running at 87 minutes, Out of Darkness co-stars Chuku Modu as Adem, the brash leader of the group and Iola Evans as Ave, who is pregnant with Adem’s second child. Luna Mwezi is Adem’s son Heron and Arno Lüning is the group’s elder.

When Heron is kidnapped by a mysterious figure, the clan race to find him and make several rash decisions during their quest. Inexperienced warrior Geirr (Kit Young) is thrust into a leadership role and Beyah (Safiya Oakley-Green), the loner of the group, ends up being much more courageous than anticipated.

First of all, I really loved the movie and I love the location. Obviously the facetious, facetious question is there is no Four Seasons Hotel right between shoots. What was it like actually shooting in location, not within the confines of a sound stage? Where was the location? Did it look as harrowing and also beautiful as it looked on screen? So can you guys speak to that? 

Andrew Cumming: Yes. It was not northwest Scotland. We stayed in a hotel called the Gairloch Hotel. Shout out to the staff at the hotel who looked after us for six weeks, and every location had to be within a 45 minute drive of the hotel, except the caves, the exterior caves.

They were a two hour drive and a 45 minute hike to get there with all the equipment on our backs. So yeah, It’s beautiful. It’s desolate. It looks dangerous and mythic and primeval and all these lovely words. And yes, it’s very difficult to shoot there when the weather turns on you. (When) Mother Nature’s not happy, she lets you know, and these guys can attest to that. 

Safiya and Kit, you each have a role that is just so really kind of iconic and wonderful. What was it like to actually get the role? Safiya, you won an award and I mean, you guys were both great in the film. 

Safiya Oakley-Green: It was incredible. When I got the film, I got a phone call from Andrew and he said, are you nervous? I said “yeah.” And he said, “Well, don’t be nervous, because if I was a 19 year old girl from the Midlands, basically imagine you are that. So everything you’re feeling is what Beyah is feeling. 

I had that strength, knowing that maybe Beyah was nervous, and by the end of it, I felt like I had so much confidence and I felt so sure of myself. That’s still in me today. People say that they take like little bits of the people they play away with them because they aren’t really different people. They’re just like parts or facets of themselves. I feel like I grew so much in my resilience and my strength during that shoot. 

And yeah, I definitely am so grateful for that experience. It was such a wonderful experience. 

And for you, Kit? I can relate to your character as far as how do I proceed in this world? When I’m scared, I don’t know how to proceed. I’m not a Beyah. What was it like for you just to connect to this role? Because it’s something that I think people can also latch on to. 

Kit Young: It’s a character that’s a little bit different from a lot of the things I end up normally playing. I often play like the guy with quips who’s not kind of like, you know, he’s not going to waste time worrying about something. He will act and probably do something extreme, like kill someone. 

Whereas Geirr is not that person at all. If anything, we’re living in a world where there is no real time for – we’re far away from talking about mental health. If somebody goes through something, he’s the person that grieves. (Geirr) is the person that kind of, you know, if the pregnant lady falls down and injures herself, she just gets up and moves on. He’s going to be like, “Are you okay?” 

It was all about building empathy. I think there’s a great kind of point of view character for how the tribe works. I think for me, it was just about making sure that you could really see the dynamics between everybody. And how do I fit into this or how do I take part in that relationship, whether it’s my brother or my nephew or my dear friend or whoever?

I think the main thing was about having an emotional sense of gravity of like, yeah, somebody died. Something awful has happened before. We just move into the next thing? Really make it hit home that this horrible thing has happened. Because the audience are going to experience that and the hero might leap off into the next thing, but the person who’s typically the sidekick is going to be like, “Excuse me, what?” 

You know, if you’re going to give the ring to Frodo and send him off his way, they’re also hobbits (saying) “Where are we going?” I think it’s useful to have that. I think you need a collection of personalities. Not everybody has the same instinct or drive or ambition, or wants. I think we do a really good job of within the entire group seeing different avenues. 

Andrew, some people might take you to task for the moniker Out of Darkness. They they might see it as generic, but if you really dig into the story there, just for me, it was a resonant title. Can you just talk about just without giving too much away what Out of Darkness is about? Kit was mentioning empathy. There is a length we can go to as far as surviving until the next day, but then we must also think outside the box as well. Can you? I really love the title. So can you speak on that? 

Yeah. I mean, well it speaks obviously to the literal meaning of these people. They need fire to stay warm (and to) eat, and they need fire to protect themselves. 

So that thing of what is coming out of the darkness towards them, what is that antagonistic force that they don’t understand? They’ve stepped in its territory and now they’ll pay the price. But also that the darkness is a metaphorical darkness, and it’s the darkness that is inside them. And the way that fear of things we don’t comprehend or don’t understand, how we can demonize it, and then we can destroy it. 

So it speaks to that darkness as well. The film’s trying to get to a place where at least one of the characters is trying to come out of that as trying to break that pattern. And that character, played very wonderfully by Safiya, is comprehending. Can we can we do that? Can we try again? Can we break the cycle of fear leading to violence leading to survival and just not really (continue) that sort of self-fulfilling prophecy? 

For me is what the title is, and it also speaks as well to the fact that it’s, again, this is a spoiler, but it speaks to our species, Homo Sapiens, taking its “rightful” place at the top of the food chain. And so coming out of that darkness and obscurity, because, you know, for 300,000 years in Western Europe, Neanderthals were running the show. 

And then we turned up. So that speaks to us in our place and climbing to the top of the food chain and how we got there and how we stayed there. There’s an inherent darkness within us that the film seeks to explore through horror. 

Check out our CinemAddicts review of Out of Darkness:

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So Out of Darkness in theaters February 9 stateside but was it released earlier with another name?

(Out of Darkness will) be released in the UK two weeks later. It was originally called The Origin. But Ava DuVernay’s film is called Origin. And, we live in a world of Google algorithms and we don’t want angry letters from Ava DuVernay fans!

Safiyah, what kind of reaction have you received regarding not just your performance in that award winning performance, but just in the future, that it’s a character that so many people can really look up to, no matter what the consequence. How does that make you feel just to be a part of that type of universe? 

Oh so cool. It shows obviously that if you abuse women and children bad things happen. Like really bad things happen. And it’s really cool to be able to play because she’s a kid, she’s a child. She at the start of that film, she’s 16 years old, um, maybe 15 years old. She’s really young. And it’s that thing of like, people are placing all of these things from society under her, and she’s experiencing all this brutality, and she’s expected to do this one thing that she doesn’t even understand what it is yet.

But she’s looking around her and choosing the bits that work for her and the bits that are going to make her survive. And yeah, maybe she makes some questionable, perhaps, decisions in the light of trying to survive. 

I think if I’d watched that film as a kid, I would have been like, “Wow, wow, women are so cool.” So I’m really, really, really glad that I got to do that. Yeah. Still amazes me that (co-writer Ruth Greenberg) is just such an incredible writer, and I’m so grateful for that character. I think she’s really cool. 

Can each of you name one of your all time favorite films, and what is it about the specific film that resonates with you? 

Andrew Cumming: Alien. I saw that film way too young. And, you know, some films are just burned on your retina for all time. And there’s a lot of structural comparisons you can make between Alien and Out of Darkness, because Oliver Kassman (co-writer), Ruth and I, we just adore that film. 

It’s a great story and it’s well made, but it’s the first time I became aware of what the director does and just how Ridley Scott uses every tool in his utility belt to tell this amazing story and build this world and make characters that you believe in and you know and freak you out and scare you and make you laugh! It’s just gangbusters. I love that movie. 

Kit Young: Only because I talked about the other day, I have such a love for The Magnificent Seven. The old school (one) with Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen. It’s an old school, longer Hollywood film, but it’s really compact. 

There’s seven people and you get to know all of them. There’s one quest and it all kicks into gear and everything has a resolution and there’s no gaps. I think there’s  stories that have plot holes and loose ends that I always struggle with. Is there a sequel or a spinoff? Because if there isn’t, you should have tied that up! 

I love ensemble casts. And I think this film –  there’s six of us and there’s no loose ends. There’s questions, but there’s no loose ends. I think that’s kind of the most interesting kind of storytelling when you take a group of unknown characters and you do something with them. 

Safia Oakley-Green: I love there’s a film called I, Daniel Blake by Ken Loach. I really like that film. I love watching anything that makes you think and feels real. And you leave with, like, a feeling in your body, you know? 

I love watching all films. They don’t have to be as real as and and important in terms of their messaging as Ken Loach’s films. But yeah, I think it’s a brilliant film. 

Great. Thank you so much for your time. And before I go, Kit, that Robert Vaughn character in The Magnificent Seven, that’s a really interesting performance. So funny that watching your performance in Out of Darkness, I was thinking of the Robert Vaughn performance as well. 

Kit Young: I’ll take it! I will take that! You don’t know what that means to me.

Thank you so much. Love the film. Thank you guys so much for your time. Really love the film. 

Andrew Cumming: So thank you Greg. Such great questions. Thank you. 

Safia Oakley-Green and Kit Young: Thank you! 

Out of Darkness is now playing in theaters.