The latest inspirational, so-very-close-to-faith-based-it-hurts BOATS (Based On A True Story) movie is Brave the Dark (now in theaters), about a teacher who forges an unusual fatherlike relationship with a troubled orphan student. The film boasts a title card proclaiming it’s approved by the Angel Guild, an offshoot of Angel Studios where paid members vote on whether the studio should distribute a movie or not – one such film was the infamous Sound of Freedom – and if you read between the lines, it sure seems like a movie gets approval when it meets a level of inspirational, so-very-close-to-faith-based-it-hurts-ness. Damian Harris directs, his brother Jared Harris plays the teacher and Nicholas Hamilton is the kid, and there’s one prayer scene, and everyone tries their damned- er, darnedest, to make us feel a little something, which is better than nothing, right?
The Gist: We open with the movie’s visual motif – a little boy in plaid jammies running alongside a cornfield at night. That boy is Nathan Williams (Hamilton), now a high-schooler and orphan secretly living in his car in 1986. He runs track just so he has access to the showers. At night, he and his ne’er-do-well buddies get into trouble; they break into an electronics shop and steal a bunch of boomboxes and gear, then speed off into the night, whooping and hollering. But this is Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a small-enough town that getting away with such things isn’t quite probable, and sure enough, Nate is mortified when the cops come to school and lead him through the halls in cuffs while everyone gawks.
Most everyone writes Nate off as a bad seed – most everyone. The exception is Stan Deen (Jared Harris), the teacher who sees not an unsalvageable soul, but a kid who’s had a rough go of things. He gives Nate a Hershey bar one morning, sensing he could really use a lift, or maybe something, anything to eat. And Mr. Deen is the only person compelled to get the kid out of jail. Mr. Deen tracks down Nate’s grandparents, who pick him up and drive him back to their farm. The first indication that the movie isn’t quite whole-hog for Jesus is when the camera lingers ominously on the crucifix hanging from Grandpa’s rearview mirror, then confirms the ominousness by revealing that Nate’s grandparents are cold and strange, and are the ones who dumped him at the orphanage after his mother died when he was six. They don’t give a rip if Nate’s return to school will help him earn a lesser charge in court; they just want him to work to pay back the money they coughed up for bail. It seems not all Christians are exemplary humans. How about that!
And so Mr. Deen rescues Nate from that transactional-relationship hell, to spend the rest of the movie trying to convince the kid that he’s helping him out of the kindness of his heart and not so he can get something in return. I mean, Mr. Deen is the kind of guy who casts a kid in the school play despite his blatant dearth of acting talent, but because it’d boost the kid’s self-esteem. Also, part of it may be that Mr. Deen is lonely. His voice still cracks when he talks about the death of his mother several months back; he lived with her, and her stuff still lingers in the bedroom he eventually cleans out for Nate to sleep in. The other teachers think Mr. Deen is crazy – “Let the system take care of him” is their chilly response, oblivious to the fact that the system hasn’t taken care of Nate at all to this point. Mr. Deen doles out as much loving support as Nate can bear, as the kid wrestles with his demons (lotsa bleary bad-memory flashbacks to piece together here), tries to avoid the temptation of mischief, hopes to get back the girlfriend who dumped him when he got arrested, and works as a set designer and lighting guy for the play. Pitfalls are everywhere. But redemption and healing are his, if he wants ’em.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Brave the Dark is cut from a snatch of cloth that provided material to inspiring-teacher dramas like Stand and Deliver and Dangerous Minds. And Hamilton gives me Temu Lucas Hedges vibes, so it brought to mind his troubled-teen roles in Ben is Back, Manchester by the Sea, and Boy Erased.
Performance Worth Watching: Ever seen Jared Harris give a performance that isn’t at least rock-solid? Sure haven’t. And without him, Brave the Dark would have a serious charisma problem.
Memorable Dialogue: Mr. Deen and Nate walk out of the courtroom, happy with a soft sentence from the judge:
Mr. Deen: You did it. I’m proud of you.
Nate: I didn’t do anything. I just stood there and kept my mouth shut.
Mr. Deen: Exactly!
Sex and Skin: None.
Our Take: Brave the Dark does not inspire much enthusiasm as it plods along for nearly two hours, cutting in snippets of The Flashback, dragging out What Happened To Nate, and finally piecing together the Psych-101 puzzle the plot presents. But it’s not a bad movie by any means. It’s hard to be cynical about a story that emphasizes compassion over contrivance, is tonally consistent and features an old pro like Jared Harris as its dramatic anchor. You’ll wish the veteran actor had a little more of his character on the page to work with – he’s written as little more than a slightly sad pollyanna, and there’s little here to suggest why everyone in town seems to hold him in high esteem despite little evidence of his having close-confidant friends. The character is just begging for something to complicate him, at least a little.
That leaves Hamilton to hold up the core character arc – a wayward youth who’s running out of second chances and is in desperate need of guidance in wrangling his unkempt trauma. Nate has squashed down his sadness for years, and an uncontrolled burst of that metaphorical dam could be deeply consequential for a teen. You’re surely familiar with such situations, and frankly, it could be more compelling when held up to a deeper exploration of the Mr. Deen character’s inner conflicts. We all have them, even the most unflappable, level-headed and forthright teachers who prioritize their students above all else. Without such a dynamic, Brave the Dark just barely breaks the surface of mediocrity.
Our Call: Brave the Dark is a moderately moving, true-ish story drama with no glaring deficiencies, but also no exceptional attributes, either. It’s watchable, so STREAM IT with modest expectations.
John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.