Midday Black Midnight Blue (2022 | US | 88 minutes | Samantha Soule, Daniel Talbott)
Depression can be a black hole of emotions; a never-ending pit that is nearly impossible to claw your way out and Midday Black Midnight Blue is fully encompassed by that black hole from beginning to end. Ian, a man well into mid-life, is haunted by the joy and pain of an old flame. As the film inches along, information slowly trickles in that lets us in on the realities of the love he felt for his girlfriend Liv and then the torture it wrought as well. In the beginning you’re led to believe this is a typical self-hating ex-love kind of story; you soon discover it’s one man’s journey into madness.
I absolutely loved the sweeping views of the Puget Sound found in this film and the natural surroundings of Whidbey Island (one of my favorite spots in the Seattle area). The grandiosity of the location added to Ian’s isolation and the ability to get lost physically and mentally. Even when we’re surrounded by friends it’s easy to get into our own heads and spiral; I can only imagine how easy it could be with few people around to break you out of the psychological tailspin. More of a character study than a storyline, you find yourself jumping from moment to moment completely out of sequence and while that adds to the madness it also kicks up a cloud of confusion that never quite settles even as major plot points are revealed. It’s well done and I’m not sorry that I took the time to see it, but with a few key editing choices I could have loved it.
This review was originally published when Midday Black Midnight Blue screened as part of the 48th Seattle International Film Festival in 2002. The film has a limited theatrical release and will be available VOD beginning on June 16. It will have special regional premieres on Whidbey Island on June 23 and at filming location Blue Fox Drive In on June 28.