Review by Darren Gaskell
Aimless Ryan (Richard Galloway) is struggling to find purpose in life. Having quit his teaching gig, he’s struggling to find gainful employment and his lack of drive is testing the patience of partner Louise (Louise O’Leary). Wandering around a local antiques emporium, Ryan picks up a somewhat overpriced hammer, but also gets an unexpected extra into the bargain – a Japanese luck doll which grants ongoing fortune to its owner. Easy, right? No, of course not. There are rules to be obeyed and consequences for not adhering to them…
I remember watching (and reviewing) Fionn and Toby Watts’ previous movie Playhouse and, although the ambition of such a project may not have quite matched the budget, the promise for future endeavours was there for all to see. Black Daruma, with its (much) smaller cast, reduced interior space and far less emphasis on the natural dramatics of the surrounding locations, finds the dialogue and characters coming into much sharper focus.
The innovation here is that all of the escalating madness is shown from the point of view of the doll itself, which instantly lands the piece in found footage territory, complete with Paranormal Activity-style shots of rooms and corridors in which the viewer is waiting for something terrible to happen. The obvious fact that none of the doll can be seen – and is continually described as strange looking by various characters – lends a further edge of unease to the proceedings, leaving the audience to fill in the blanks on just how disturbing an item it is. Do you get a glimpse of the daruma in, say, a mirror, at some point? I’m clearly not going to tell you here.
Galloway and O’Leary convince as a couple trying to get the best out of a relationship which has hit a few rough patches, mostly down to the male half of said relationship being somewhat flaky, his unfocused attempts at finding a job being given support and encouragement by his partner because she doesn’t want to call time on what they have together, regardless of how much he arses about. Their early, less frantic interactions are nicely written, foreshadowing how incapable Ryan is of dealing with the supernatural and how Louise is probably going to be the one taking charge of the situation.
Supporting characters add to this darkly comic portrayal of fragile masculinity. There’s Alan (David Castleford), who spouts counselling buzzword bollocks masquerading as motivational soundbites and possibly has the least self-awareness of anyone on the planet. Also, and there’s no way for me to get around the detail of the guy’s name, a very close second to Alan in terms of being an utter wazzock is, ahem, Darren (Ross Marshall), a businessman with whom Ryan enjoys a drink and drug-fuelled odyssey around the suburbs, the two of them never coming close to any profound conclusions about life despite them being convinced they have.
So, we have accurate observations about various incarnations of the manchild and a kitchen sink (literally, at some points) style of relationship comedy drama, but if you remember where we came in, the first paragraph points to this being a horror movie, right? Well, it’s that too, each scene being shot through with a nervous tension that balances on the edge of chucklesome and chilling, the standout example of this being an extended job interview scene which is both hilariously OTT and low-key terrifying as Ryan goes to work on selling himself to a potential employer, buoyed by the daruma’s promise of riches as long as it’s by his side.
The gradual build up, a genuine disinterest in piling up victims and general lack of all-out moppet mayhem may put some off, but Black Daruma is a fine example of using limited resources to their full potential, relying on the strength of the writing and performances rather than showering the screen with blood, which is to the credit of all involved. The darkly comic, twisted final fifteen minutes may telegraph its ultimate act of nastiness but that’s hardly a blot on the copybook of what is a fun, fearsome experience for the bulk of its hour and a quarter. You’ll be questioning yourself as to why you’re laughing at some of the disturbing events within, but you will be laughing. It’s a minimalist shot in the arm for both doll kill pics and found footage concepts. Be careful of what you might find in antique shops!
Black Daruma screened as part of the Spirit of Independence Festival 2023 in Sheffield, UK.