jackwareingfilms I am not sure if this is as good as the 'Reflective Skin' (Amazing film!), but it is definitely very close. Philip Ridley is a brilliant director. He is a true visionary and he managed to get three of the best performances from three of the best actors in Hollywood @ the time i.e. Brendan Frasier, Ashley Judd, and Viggo Mortensen. Very cool movie. Unique, and interesting. It's kind of long, but still extremely weird, and cool, and totally worth the watch.

rob_lavender The stars of Philip Ridley's masterful, dark drama are all known for bigger things, but to this reviewer's mind at least, they're never better than they are here. Made in 1995, the film boasts impressive turns from Brendan Fraser, Ashley Judd, Viggo Mortensen and Grace Zabriskie, and yet it remains almost unheard-of to this date. This is a genuine shame. Writer-director Ridley has crafted a pitch-perfect character study portraying the conflict between the immovable object of religion and the unstoppable force of sexuality. Darkly Noon (Fraser) is a young, naive man who escaped a massacre at the strict religious commune in which he grew up. Lost deep within the forest in Southern America, he's taken in by the beautiful Callie (Judd) and her mute lover Clay (Mortensen). Experiencing lust and envy for possibly the first time, he finds disturbed widow Roxy (Zabriskie), who helps him lay the blame for these alien emotions with his unwitting seductress. With some stunning cinematography and innovative editing techniques, Ridley increasingly introduces elements of fantasy as Darkly gradually slips into insanity, helping us follow his journey. A tense piece of work, the days are counted until we're told "Final Day" - the sequence of events comes as no surprise, but that doesn't lessen the impact whatsoever; rather it provides a ticking clock that adds to the unease.

Wetbones I watched this film yesterday and was pretty blown away by it. It's very much like a magical realist novel in how it mixes aspects of modern life and society with fairy tale mythology and a general dreamlike atmosphere.The story is basically about a young man named Darkly Noon who has been brought up by religious fanatics and who stumbles upon a weird "family" of three that lives deep in the woods after his parents are murdered. These people consist of Callie, a women who is so beautiful and sensual she's being compared to a force of nature, her mute boyfriend and a third young man. At the beginning Darkly, played by Brendan Fraser who is actually downright awesome in this film, is alone with Callie, which causes a lot of confusion as he's attracted to her and his sexual desires clash with both his religious dogmas and, upon his return, with her boyfriend. There's also a strange old woman living in the woods who claims that Callie is in fact a witch who seduces and kills every man she meets and also accuses her of having murdered most of her family. With that in mind Darkly, who has been continuously mutilating himself to control his urges, decides Callie needs to be punished for her sins against god. Things go very wrong from there...The Passion of Darkly Noon is a tough film to describe because there really are not a lot of movies that are anything like it. It's part thriller, part dark erotic drama, part supernatural horror and part fairy tale. Now try to wrap your mind around that ... It is expertly and effectively directed by Philip Ridley, who has only directed this film and THE REFLECTING SKIN a few years before it and spends most of his time writing children's books. Which makes sense because DARKLY NOON bears some resemblance to the simplicity of the narratives of children's books. It's just that it goes into extremely dark and adult territory instead of remaining wholesome and family-friendly. The performances by everyone involved are great, Fraser really surprised me with his portrayal of Darkly. The guy once had some promise before he decided to squander it all in ridiculous braindead blockbusters. Ashley Judd, who plays Callie, also does a great job with a very difficult role. Callie is incredibly seductive, naive, playful and almost childlike all at once and Judd pulls it off admirably. Her mute boyfriend is played by Viggo Morensen and he's also good in a role that requires him to convey everything with gestures alone. Special praise has to go to Nick Bicat for a truly haunting score that fits the style of the film and John de Borman's lush cinematography perfectly.THE PASSION OF DARKLY NOON is the best film I have seen in a long time and a genuine discovery.

lkil ATTENTION, POTENTIAL VIEWERS! Some possible SPOILERS follow:Philip Ridley has produced a genuinely poetic yet nightmarish piece in Passion of Darkly Noon. The setting of the film forms perhaps its central part. An almost never-never land in the middle of the lush impenetrable forest. A light cabin with a beautiful and sensual Callie (Ashley Judd) living there day and night and communicating with the primal forces of nature (rain, storm, caves, thickets, springs, etc.) The viewer cannot help but feel inundated by the intensity with which the forces of nature are brought together into a single bundle of some primordial virginity. Darkly (Brendan Frasier) is brought into the "eye of the storm" to be cared for and nurtured back into health. Striking a pose of seductive nymph, Callie unsuspectingly (or maybe not) stirs Darkly's (who is extremely inhibited and repressed) sexual passions. They proceed to escalate uncontrollably. Initially, Darkly is torn by conflicting internal thoughts about how to react to Callie and how to understand his own emotions and urges. Progressively, his "demonic" side takes the upper hand: his "misgivings" about Callie are validated by the nearly insane Roxy (Callie's mother-in-law) who lives as a forest hermit nearby. The end is as frightening as it is purifying and tension-relieving. The film is full of mysterious symbolism and is uncharacteristically replete with ambiguities which remain unsolved throughout. My personal opinion is that this movie should be understood as a fable, a tale of sorts. In a sense, all this happens inside the Darkly's mind and soul. All other images in the film are just the external projections of Darkly's intense internal struggles, his PASSIONS. In terms of its atmosphere, Passion of Darkly Noon has a great deal in common with Maurice Maeterlinck's play Pelleas and Mellisanda (see the beautiful and otherworldly music by Claude Debussy). This movie is truly enchanted and enchanting. Could be watched many, many times for this quality alone. One of the best in its genre. See another Philip Ridley's movie Reflecting Skin -- equally bizarre, stunning atmospherics, wonderfully disturbing yet beautiful imagery.