This is not the perfect film, but Brian Luna is perfect for the role of The Messenger. He is the character. The casting director should receive some sort of award because he or she could not have picked a better actor.
The rest of the film isn’t quite as good as Luna, but it holds its own.
The Messenger, who goes by names like Taco and Pepe, is trying to become an agent. More specifically, he’s trying to get into the Junior Agent program. (I don’t know if such a thing exists, but if it does it is the saddest sounding program I have ever heard of.) Unfortunately, the three a*****e agents he delivers coke for can’t see past their racism. When the Messenger’s friend enters the picture, everything changes as the agents have found him, a blind man, to be the perfect mule. Now Messenger has to decide whether or not to risk his friendship for a shot at the “perfect” job. Or does he?
There is a twist to “In the Dark,” and it’s not one that is readily apparent. It’s also a twist that could have failed horribly, yet doesn’t. Sure there are flaws, but it’s hard to pinpoint one deal breaker as there are multiple ways of reading the scenes leading up to the reveal. It can’t be called brilliant, but it is close.
There will be some viewers who will be turned off by what the Messenger has to go through to get to his final goal. The racism, while not violent, is realistic and therefore disturbing in its ignorance. The agents were also fairly one-dimensional, but that fits, as people like them generally tend to be one-note souls. Had they been more self-aware, the plot would have failed, and quite honestly they came across as they should have: little men with some money and no goals other than sex, drugs and obtaining more power. The kind of guys whose intellect stopped at fifteen. You really can’t get more base than that.
Watch this film if you ever get the chance. It’s one of those rare things where the actors are equal to the story (and vice versa), and that alone should make it worth your time. The fact that the tale is pretty interesting is just icing on the cake.
