Darkened Room
Darkened Room
| 12 April 2002 (USA)
Darkened Room Trailers

Two young women find themselves in a dark room where there is a distinctly strange feeling.

Reviews
Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film
Konterr Brilliant and touching
CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Red-Barracuda Darkened Room is a short film from David Lynch's digital video phase. It starts with an Asian girl who refers ambiguously to a troubled friend, who we then cut to. She is a visibly upset blonde woman alone in room on a sofa whose face is streaked by mascara from her tears. Later a third woman enters and verbally torments her.This is a technically raw short film which brought me to mind the look and feel of Lynch's last feature film Inland Empire (2006), a film I have mixed feelings about. With that film, Lynch moved away from the gorgeous visual aesthetic he had hitherto been associated with. The change was mainly down to the move from film to digital video, which looks a lot uglier. The sound in this one is pretty amateurish as well, with the hum of the video camera audible at times. There is still an unmistakable Lynch feel to proceedings though with uncomfortably long pauses where little happens, a mysterious situation that is never fully explained (to say the least) and an ominous low soundtrack maintaining a certain feeling of dread. Lynch does generate an interesting tone to a certain extent but the short run-time never allows him to develop the material into anything very engaging, while it's also a little too lo-fi for its own good as well.
Scars_Remain I'm not gonna lie, I am obsessed with David Lynch. My favorite movie of all time is his 1977 film, Eraserhead and close behind that is Elephantman, and Mulholland Drive. I also loved Lost Highway, Twin Peaks, and Blue Velvet. I however haven't been as pleased with his stuff after Mulholland Drive. I thought Inland Empire was a mess and a huge disappointment. This would bring me to Darkened Room. A film that ties into Inland Empire quite a bit but has the same pointless feel as that film. I guess I just have no idea what's going on so I didn't a point in filming it. I did like how it was shot though. It had a very low budget, independent feel and that is very inspiring to me as a young filmmaker. I'm making it a goal to see all of David Lynch's films but this one was a disappointment.
mario_c It's a short movie from David Lynch with just 8 minutes, but it got all the "Lynchian ingredients"! It's mysterious, dark, inconclusive, eerie, and strange; and before the blond girl starts to talk it's even a bit scary! The soundtrack is exceptional to create this odd atmosphere because it's also sinister and mysterious… About the setting itself, it hasn't the "traditional" red curtains, but it has socking purple painted walls, which give it an equally effect of eeriness.The plot is about a girl who's locked in a dark room and she cries for help; then comes another girl who starts talking to her in a mysterious way, saying she's there just because of her fault… We don't know what did happen or what will happen next… it ended unsolved and puzzling, as a good Lynch movie must end! It's a great short, despite some amateurish acting. The girls are professional actresses, but I think their acting could have been better in this short.
Banandar I don't quite know how to explain "Darkend Room," because to summarize it wouldn't really do it justice. It's a quintessentially Lynchian short film with two beautiful girls in a strange, mysterious situation. I would say this short is definitely more on the "Mulholland Drive" end of the Lynchian spectrum, as opposed to "The Elephant Man" or "The Straight Story." It's hidden on Lynch's website, and well worth the search.