Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘The Dark Stranger’

Written by Scott Edwards

One of my favorite sayings when someone is really good at something is that it is in their blood. I really love helping to train people, which is a kind of teaching and this was handed down by generations of teachers in my family. I think that this applies to many other talents, since if you are not shown how fun something can be by your parents, you may never give it a try and see that it is what you want to do. I really do wish however that one of my parents was good at drawing, because I would have loved to be able to put the images in my head on paper without tearing it up and trying again. Some things may not be in your blood, but it does not mean that you should stop doing them. Just because it does not come easy to you does not mean it does not make you happy, you just need to work at it a little harder than others.

With the loss of her mother, Leah Garrison has kept to herself as much as possible, but her father will not let her disappear from the world completely. Knowing that she is extremely talented at drawing like her mother was, Brendan tries to keep her on the up and up rather than seeing her go further down the rabbit hole. Not being able to help her the way that he wants to, Brendan also has a psychiatrist that comes in for a weekly visit with his daughter and while Leah does not like talking about her feelings, much less what happened to her mother, she is starting to get a little bit better with the medication and the human contact that this provides. 

Blaming herself for her mother’s death, Leah is having a more difficult time getting over this than the rest of the family, but when she is finally able to get an idea down on paper, she sees that things are starting to get better. Telling her story in comic form, Leah creates 'The Dark Stranger' who is happy to help a girl in need out with anything that he can. Taking the character to a place where she will be appreciated, Leah sees that the world is not all that she wants it to be and when things start to get dark, she is forced to add new characters in that could provide a bit of hope. Losing herself in her new creation, Leah sees that when she is done she has a new cut on her arm and her inking pen is covered in blood and her life force is part of the ink on the pages.

Feeling at first like she has found a happy place, since being able to draw again is something that she never thought would happen, there is something else going on that is bringing her back down. Leah’s father is getting requests from a Randall Toth who is fascinated by her mother and wants to see all of her artwork. Saying that he is trying to set up an exhibit on depressed artists, Leah is not willing to let the final piece that her mother created leave the house. While it is the only thing that Leah can try to connect to her mother with, it also holds the key to what is happening to her as well. With an uncontrollable need to draw on command, Leah starts to take steps back in her recovery and The Dark Stranger is becoming the only person that truly understands what she is going through, but is he the one that wants to help her, or is he the one that is making her complete her story and wind up like her mother?

I really did enjoy this movie and while I thought it was going to be all about a comic book character that comes to life, it offers so much more than that. Watching as Leah is trying to battle depression, like her mother did before her, seeing the growth that she shows is amazing. While telling her story on the pages, Leah finds more out about herself and I think that this is what the movie was really trying to show up close and personal. I really liked seeing the changes in Leah throughout and even the little crush that she developed on her father’s teaching assistant was one of the many pieces that helped bring her back to the side of wanting to live. A very nice story and having a little bit of comics and death being included did not hinder the story, it actually made it more relatable for people that have gone through the same process. Stay Scared.

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