A man working late in a mannequin warehouse sees a figure in the doorway when the lights are off. He turns them on. Nothing. Off. There. He is the father of Martin, a boy who has stopped sleeping because his mother Sophie talks to someone named Diana at night. Martin’s half-sister Rebecca, who left years ago for the same reason, comes to get him. Lights Out grew out of a three-minute short film that went viral in 2013, and James Wan produced the feature from it.
What Happens In The House
Diana was a girl Sophie knew in a psychiatric hospital as a child, with a skin condition that made light fatal, and an experiment with light killed her. She has stayed with Sophie since, and she gets stronger when Sophie stops taking her medication. The rules are simple: she cannot exist in light. Rebecca, her boyfriend Bret, Martin and Sophie spend one night in the house with candles, a wind-up torch, a gun with a flash, car headlights and a phone screen. The ending is Sophie’s, and it was criticised for what it says about her illness.
Why It Works
David F. Sandberg shot the original short in his flat with his wife Lotta Losten, who appears in the opening here. He went on to Annabelle: Creation and Shazam!. Teresa Palmer is the lead. Maria Bello plays Sophie as a woman who knows what is happening. It is 81 minutes with one idea, done completely.
Watch Lights Out On GoMovies
81 minutes in HD. Press play above. Free, no sign-up.
