Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Super Dark Times does not waste any time with getting to something super dark; we follow a trail of blood through a high school to a deer barely hanging on while it lies in a pool of its own blood, and two cops put it out of its misery (much to the horror of the teen onlookers). There’s something distinctly unsettling about the entire sequence, however; rather than putting crying teenage girls on display and milking it for drama, there’s a strangely somber atmosphere – no one even seems surprised. From there, we meet our two protagonists, Josh (Charlie Tahan) and Zach (Owen Campbell), best friends who spend their mundane mid-’90s suburban life rating girls in the yearbook and discussing their masturbation habits. Things seem innocuous enough, but the ensuing escalation of violence, paranoia, and toxic masculinity is chillingly compelling.
There are coming-of-age stories and tales of innocence lost, and then there is Super Dark Times. It’s a brutal, unflinching look at the rise of violence in teens (it is set in the time leading up to the Columbine High School massacre) and all the factors that contribute to such a horrifying epidemic. The young cast is believable every step of the way, perfectly embodying their roles as average teens who find themselves sucked into something way beyond their emotional capacity.
What begins as an unlucky accident unravels something truly terrifying – particularly in Tahan’s Josh, who is played so convincingly that he’s hard to watch at points – and the paranoia that follows is damn-near excruciating. The inherently dangerous nature of teen rivalry, jealousy, and repressed emotions is explored in a fascinating manner, one that sees Josh evolve from a gross, goofy teen boy to a vicious, entitled maniac, one capable of much more than we’d like to think about. Campbell, for his part, is the opposite, and acts as a better surrogate for us as audience members; who hasn’t felt completely at a loss when they’ve inadvertently become involved in an accidental murder?
Over the course of the film’s 102 minutes, director Kevin Phillips perfectly builds suspense and tension with every shot, every breath taken, every line delivered. It’s hard to believe this is his first feature; Super Dark Times is truly unforgettable, the kind of film that creeps its way into your mind and makes a home there, no matter how hard you try to avoid it (and then you share it with everyone you know, because it’s just too damn good not to). It may be set in the 1990s, but Super Dark Times couldn’t be more terrifyingly timely.
