One night in Detroit, everyone disappears. Well, almost everyone. As the power goes, so do the corporeal forms of most of the population, just leaving their clothes and jewellery in piles on the floor. A multiplex projectionist (John Leguizamo), a TV reporter (Hayden Christensen), a healthcare worker (Thandie Newton) and a boy (Jacob Latimore) congregate in a bar with a jukebox and a generator as the living darkness creeps around them. Are the disappearances a product of a religious rapture, a science experiment gone wrong (a la The Mist) or a supernatural occurrence? Director Anderson avoids easy answers or Twilight Zone-esque twists, which are both gutsy choices and ultimately frustrating. Either way, the creepiness is genuine.
This article appears in May 26 – Jun 1, 2011.