Film Review – Brave the Dark

“Brave the Dark” (shot in 2021) shares the story of Stan Deen, a kindly teacher from a Pennsylvania town who showed interest in his students, especially a young, deeply troubled teen named Nathan. The screenplay (by Dale G. Bradley and Lynn Robertson Hay) brings Nathan’s story to life, following this relationship as it develops a level of trust to help investigate the pain of a boy who’s seen too much in his life at such a tender age, lacking the proper guardianship to better understand everything he’s feeling. It’s a good-natured effort, and director Damian Harris (“The Rachel Papers,” “Deceived,” “Gardens of the Night”) tries to keep the picture as deeply felt as possible when dealing with the sensitive subject matter of unprocessed trauma. Harris can’t always get the feature past a television movie atmosphere, but he has family assistance, with co-star Jared Harris (his brother and fellow son of late actor Richard Harris) delivering a lively performance to get “Brave the Dark” to a few emotional spaces it wouldn’t otherwise reach. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com