Midlands Review of Duskman
Duskman
Directed by Sam Winterton
2024
Filmmaker Sam Winterton is soon to premiere his Midlands Movies Awards-nominated feature Duskman, which has been recently reformatted into three parts for an online release. We take a look at a movie that mixes comic book fantasy with real-life drama and with an epic length, it requires an epic deep-dive, so “Holy review, Duskman”, let’s crack on…
Chapter 1
This first part introduces us to Jim (played by the director) as a quiet, but somewhat disturbed, man who experiences psychological episodes where he attempts to deal with his problems via visions of a superhero world filled with heroes and villains.
As he struggles with a boring day job and relationship woes, he wrestles with his mental health by visualising himself as a vigilante called ‘Duskman’. The opening uses extreme lighting and great VFX from Glenn McAllen-Finney to ape its most obvious influence - that being Tim Burton’s gothic Batman and the subsequent animated series.
Added to these sequences is an excellent score from Kirby Spencer who utilises the talents of the Leicester Symphony orchestra for Danny Elfman-style brass marches. More brilliant music comes in the form of the title track from Mary Singer, who delivers a beautiful melancholic ballad with a tinge of sadness in her superbly emotional voice.
Clever editing thrusts us from the comic book genre into the real world and the reveal that it’s a figment of the man’s imagination continues as scenes overlap between the two. The comic characters refer to real life which then bleeds over during crossover moments with these transitions handled well. One example has the lead hearing music (actually an alarm) which awakes him from his dreams (nightmares?)
The central idea is solid, allowing the production team to experiment with different cinematic techniques by combining two genres. You could add musical as well if you count the extended sequences which utilise talented local bands and artists!
Having seen the full feature version, the decision to split its overlong 2½ hour runtime is a solid one. That said, I’d go further with the cuts trimming more superfluous moments, credits, elongated montages and self-reflection sequences to perhaps find an optimal length of a regular TV-episode.
Yet the story continues as Jim visits a psychologist to help, whilst his colleague at work is equally supportive and useless. As his friends try to get him out of his game-playing rut, we continue the switching as a pastiche ‘Alfred’ butler tries to help our hero in the ‘Dusk-cave’. Yet the counselling seems to be failing and the introverted protagonist debates whether to socialise at a local gig.
And although there’s no real cliff-hanger (a result of the film’s split no doubt) there’s enough intrigue and plot thread breadcrumbs to investigate to round off the story as we go forward…
Chapter 2
The second part opens with a brief recap before the aforementioned gig takes place. More comic book nods occur with a 1960s Batman theme ringtone and the gig itself combines a heavy rock soundtrack with Jim’s friend dressed as a Robin-style sidekick in a fast-flowing action montage dream sequence. And the film sows the seeds of a bitter rivalry brewing with his ex’s new friends.
This middle deals with much more relationship drama as it explores Jim’s association with his ex-girlfriend (Kelly McCormack) - and a smidgen of hope begins to materialise in his life. Can he control his imagination enough to hold things together for their meet-up?
At an hour, sadly this section once again maintains a longer length than I’d personally prefer. Whether quicker editing is needed, or scenes and dialogue that repeat/confirm previously known information are trimmed, I’d take a Batarang (Dusk-a-rang?) to shave even more time off. Or perhaps split this part again to make it a 4 (or even 5)-part production.
Via flashbacks, the film starts to explore the past reasons of how Jim’s situation came to be and the eventual meeting with his ex moves from some awkward confessions to a love rekindled. Afterwards, we end on a brutal attack in an alleyway and the awakening of the Joker-esque “Smiler” which leads nicely into the final episode.
Chapter 3
The final instalment opens with Winterton having lots of fun playing the Smiler - imbuing the character with some well-acted and entertaining villainy in the day-glo nightmare world.
The fractured reality involves another foe called Janus (a nod to the god of doorways) who helps release Smiler from his confinement. And we also have Invidia (the name itself meaning resentment at seeing others’ success) and the filmmaker has ensured both rogues personify the emotions and feelings experienced by Jim.
And as the two worlds begin to collide more regularly, our lead begins to lose more of a grip and the filmmakers get to have their genre cake and eat it at the end - exploring sensitive emotional drama in the real world AND a big VFX comic-book clash.
Duskman has been clearly a colossal undertaking. Varied locations, drone shots, superhero costumes, visual effects, music video, action sequences and quieter dramatic moments all collide in a larger-than-life and extraordinary feature.
The filmmakers throughout have incorporated different genre staples, shooting styles, varied lighting and cinematography and a well structured story that blends the real and the unreal to demonstrate their proficient skills and talent.
For me, the film still feels like a director’s cut. It’s epic in scope for sure. Yet I still have some doubts about its effectiveness in engaging a local indie film audience in the best way - as the final part is also 50 minutes. A project, of course, is any length the filmmakers want it to be. There’s no “right” duration. It’s subjective and often just personal preference.
For me though, more cuts mean swifter and more precise sequences and therefore more impact. It’s easy to become precious with the amount of footage filmed but I can see how hard this would be given the massive efforts over the 4 years of making, which must have been a HUGE undertaking.
It explores the serious aspects of mental health, but does so via the superhero format and this structure helps give the film an accessible angle and a well-thought central motif to keep it focused. And with a flurry of very impressive technical elements, Duskman ends as a stupendous odyssey and first-class ‘mind-adventure’ and also a fantastic lesson of what can be achieved with endless hard work and an extremely passionate and talented team.
★★★★
4 / 5
Mike Sales
Duskman is released on 21st September on Amazon Prime and the film premieres on August 30th at Phoenix Leicester
