Dawning
Review By Sharon Foss
Chris (Jonas Goslow) and Aurora (Najarra Townsend) are going to visit their father (David Coral) and stepmother (Christine Kellogg-Darrin) in Minnesota. Relationships seem strained between Chris and his father, especially when Chris is confronted about quitting college. The tension only accelerates as Aurora’s beloved dog comes back from the woods with a wound that leads her father to put the canine out of his misery. There cannot be a rougher night to begin a family visit than this one!
But the night isn’t over. In stumbles a transient (Danny Salmen) who looks scary but only delivers a simple message: “It’s waiting.” He holds the family hostage, but why? What’s out there that he is so afraid of?
This is how Dawning begins, and it doesn’t stop from there. This family has some true issues—unresolved hate from the siblings about their parent’s divorce, a long-standing problem that resurfaces in a bottle, and hard feelings toward a stepmother who may have entered the picture too early. Someone should tell them to get over all of this, because they have much bigger problems on this night than what they think; problems that cannot be solved with therapy or talking things through.
Director and writer Gregg Holtgrewe, along with writer Matthew Wilkins, brings us Dawning, a film by Breaking Glass Pictures. Dawning took home the Silver Ace Award at the Las Vegas Film Festival, Best Picture at the Rhode Island International Film Festival, and Best Screenplay and Audience Award at the Solstice Film Festival.
I’m surprised it didn’t win more awards at the countless film festivals it entered. Family dynamic aside, Dawning is an edge-of-your-seat journey that will leave you transfixed. The movie itself is very simple. Simple dialogue, simple characterization, and even a simple setting. Usually this bores me and makes me wish the end would arrive much sooner than it will. This time, however, is different. This simplicity is what makes Dawning great; keep everything simple so that we may focus on what’s important—the story. I feel the creators of the movie took great pains to make sure that their audience can focus on what is pure perfection about this movie. What is truly great IS the simplicity. All aspects of this movie, from the characters to the plot to the setting, all work in harmony to give you a sense that you better not take the chance to blink or else you may miss what you have been waiting for all along. Want my advice? Watch it…but don’t look away.
The DVD includes some extras that I am sure are worth watching, however, the movie I was sent did not include them. Add this to your Netflix, because it is definitely worth your 80 minutes!
