The Mist is a 2007 science fiction horror movie directed by Frank darabont, based on a 1980’s book by the same name written by Stephen King. It centers around a group of people stuck in a supermarket that is surrounded by a fog that hides a number of bloodthirsty creatures. Below is my The Mist (2007) movie review
This movie has a lot of elements that I really liked. I have been a huge fan of King’s books and I read many of them throughout the year. This includes The Mist, which I highly recommend. I am also a big fan of Darabont as he directed two of my favorite movies of all time (the Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption, which are also based on King’s works). This story comes from two people who have proved they know how to craft good stories. It really does show the effort that went into bringing such a powerful story to life.
This is a departure from Darabont’s other stories as he is not known to be a sci-fi guy. He did write The Walking Dead TV show, but his stories are usually more grounded and reflect a lot of emotional drama. In The Mist, there certainly is a lot of drama as residents are pinned against each other. Darabont has said that the story is not about the monsters but the people inside the supermarket. There are a wide range of characters. From bible-thumping fanatics to teachers, to mechanics, and even military personnel who harbor secrets about the creatures outside the supermarket. In the midst of this we have a family man David Drayton (played by Thomas Jane) and his son Billy.
When the storm hits and the fog rolls in, everything starts to go wrong. People start to panic and that leads to a lot of finger pointing that pins the characters against each other. In this case it works well because nobody knows what really is happening around them. The creatures in the mist serve as a driver for chaos, but in the end it is all about human survival and how we cope in the face of a disaster. Do we work as a community or do we let our fears get the best of us and turn on each other? The film highlights both ends where fear overtakes people but survival instincts also bond them to fight for survival.
The creatures in the movie that range from little spiders to hand size flying insects. There are also building size creatures with lots of appendages. The novel doesn’t have a lot of descriptions of the creatures so it took a lot of effort to come up with new designs that Darabont signed off on. With a mix of practical and CGI, the creatures come off as grayish and neutral in color. This complements the outside fog. This also fits in the idea of Darabont wanting to make the movie black and white. His “preferred version” to call back to an era of movies such as the original Night of the living dead (1968)”
As for the ending, it is one of the most depressing endings you will ever see. Darabont only signed up to do the movie if he could keep his ending, which was approved by the studio. It is the type of ending that will either skyrocket your enjoyment of it or will leave you very angry. Stephen King really liked the ending and gave it his approval stating:
“Frank wrote a new ending that I loved. It is the most shocking ending ever and there should be a law passed stating that anybody who reveals the last 5 minutes of this film should be hung from their neck until dead.”
With a blessing from the author, how could the movie not be good? It is rare to see authors compliment the movies based on their work as many of them change too many things due to studio involvement. Again, Darabont wanted to do his own story,and since he is a good director and knows how to handle a wide variety of movies, I think he was a perfect person for the part. The characters in The Mist all feel real. They are not all relatable or likable, but you know their motivation and why they are the way they are.
The movie doesn’t explain everything happening around this group of people which makes it more fun IMO. The audience doesn’t have to be spoon fed everything to be able to fit the pieces in place. The movie feels ballsy in the way it chose to represent the ending. Having read the book, some elements of it were emitted but I think that is for the best.
Thanks for reading my The Mist (2007) movie review
