A freak storm unleashes a species of bloodthirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.
The one thing “The Mist” did upon its initial theatrical release in 2007 was divide audiences with its controversial ending. For those who may not be familiar with the novella or the movie, you might want to stop reading any further until you become proficient with both conclusions, as there will be spoilers ahead.
In Stephen King’s novella, at the end, the few remaining characters in David Drayton’s car hear the word “Hartford” mentioned on the radio, giving them a small glimmer of hope. In the film, these same characters all agree to commit suicide as the mist shows no signs of lifting. David shoots the other four characters, including his young son, but with no bullets remaining, he steps out of the car, waiting to be devoured by one of the mist’s creatures, only for the mist to dissipate, revealing a U.S. Army armored column driving past.
I was one of those people who felt Darabont’s ending was a cop-out. I knew the ending of the novella but felt like Darabont wanted to stir the pot, so to speak, and change things up, which happens a lot with book-to-screen adaptations. Filmmakers take creative license, but here, it just felt totally unwarranted. As an indie filmmaker myself, part of me understood Darabont’s perspective on wanting to cause dissent, but as an audience member watching the film, I would have preferred the novella’s original ending as many of King’s denouements ended pessimistically.
After a severe thunderstorm strikes Bridgton, Maine, it knocks out the power to the town. The next day, David Drayton (Thomas Jane) and his eight-year-old son Billy (Nathan Gamble) head into Bridgton to get supplies, but they become trapped inside the supermarket, along with many of the town’s residents when a mysterious mist envelopes the town. They quickly realize that in order to survive, it’s not the otherworldly creatures in the mist they need to prevail against, rather, it is each other and the human need to survive, no matter what the cost.
When I saw the trailers for “The Mist” back in 2007, I thought it looked really good but I was sorely disappointed when it was released. This is the first time I’ve watched the movie since then, and I have to admit, it’s much better than I remembered, but the ending still takes away from the rest of the film. We spend the majority of the story caring about these characters, only for director Frank Darabont to step in and deliberately take it all away by killing them off for no other reason than to provoke a reaction, which he successfully did. Here we are, sixteen years later, and we’re still talking about it.
The CGI, at least by today’s standards, doesn’t hold up very well, and some of the scenes involving huge tentacles from the creatures in the mist are more laughable than scary, but if you can get past the antiquated special effects, you might just have fun. Just know that the ending will probably leave you feeling acrimonious.
Now available on 4K Ultra HD™ SteelBook®
