BFI London Film Festival: By The Time It Gets Dark

BFI Film Festival: 245 features. 74 countries. 15 cinemas. 12 days. One Festival.

A filmmaker travels to a rural retreat with an author who was an activist in her youth. Hoping to collaborate on a script, the director begins interviewing the writer, building a picture of the circumstances that sparked her political awakening. From this premise, By the Time it Gets Dark branches off in many directions, its elliptical journey employing a variety of filmmaking styles to create a provocative treatise on memory, politics and cinema. A café worker who reappears as other characters sparks a central question about representation, while the presence of a famous young actor explores the power and influence of fame and charisma. Along the way, the film touches on telekinesis, fungus, fame, tobacco, dreams and glitch art.

Occasionally dizzying, By the Time it Gets Dark is never didactic and through her bold approach to the medium Anocha Suwichakornpong (Mundane History) offers audiences a thrilling glimpse of the possibilities of cinema.

(Notes by Kate Taylor)

By the Time It Gets Dark (Dao Khanong), dir. Anocha Suwichakornpong, Thailand/France/Qatar 2016, 105 mins.

The ICA Cinemas are completely ad-free. All films are 18+ unless otherwise stated.

Learn more about becoming an ICA Member.