Underplayed Gems

When You're Lost in the Darkness (2023)

When You're Lost in the Darkness poster
Directed by
Craig Mazin
Runtime
1h 21m
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

In the series premiere of a post-apocalyptic drama, a man and his daughter face the chaos of a global pandemic that turns people into violent attackers. Two decades later, the man and his partner agree to smuggle a young girl out of a quarantine zone in exchange for supplies.

tensegrippingbleakurgentemotionalvisceralharrowingslow-burn

What happens

"When You're Lost in the Darkness" is the series premiere of the American post-apocalyptic drama television series The Last of Us. Written by series creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann and directed by Mazin, the episode aired on HBO on January 15, 2023. The first episode of the first season, it introduces Joel (Pedro Pascal) and his daughter Sarah (Nico Parker) during the chaos of a global pandemic outbreak caused by a mutated form of the Cordyceps fungus that turns its victims into bloodthirsty attackers. Twenty years later, Joel and Tess (Anna Torv) set out to find Joel's brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and are tasked with smuggling the young Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in exchange for supplies. The episode's original director, Johan Renck, dropped out due to scheduling conflicts stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. His successor, Kantemir Balagov, left the project due to creative differences and was replaced by Mazin. "When You're Lost in the Darkness" was originally written as two episodes, which were combined as HBO executives felt the original first episode would not compel viewers to return the following week. Mazin and Druckmann wrote additional scenes to expand the world and encourage viewers to empathize with its characters. Filming for the series began in Calgary, Alberta, in July 2021. The episode received critical acclaim, with praise for its writing, direction, and performances of Pascal, Ramsey, Parker, and Torv. It was watched by 4.7 million viewers on the first day, and almost 40 million within two months. The episode won Outstanding Sound Mixing and Sound Editing at the 75th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, and Parker was nominated for Outstanding Guest Performance in a Drama Series at the 7th Annual Black Reel Awards for Television. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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