Brave the Dark | |
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Directed by | Damian Harris |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | Julio Macat |
Edited by | Toby Yates |
Music by |
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Production companies |
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Distributed by | Angel Studios |
Release dates |
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Running time | 122 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $200,000 [1] |
Box office | $3 million [2] |
Brave the Dark is a 2023 American drama film directed by Damian Harris and starring Jared Harris and Nicholas Hamilton. The film premiered at the Heartland International Film Festival in October 2023, [3] and was released in the United States on January 24, 2025.
A teacher discovers one of his students has been thrown into jail, and decides to bail him out but quickly discovers the student has dark secrets.
Stan Deen was a high school English and Drama teacher of the Garden Spot High School, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania from 1967 until his death in 2016. He founded the Garden Spot Performing Arts (GSPA) in 1967. [4] Brave the Dark was written by Dale G. Bradley, Lynn Robertson, John P. Spencer, director Damian Harris and Nathaniel "Nate" Deen. Filming locations included the real Garden Spot High School in Lancaster County where Nathaniel Deen attended and Stan Deen taught as well as the house both lived in. Filming took place between late summer and autumn 2021. Climactic scenes were filmed against the Poplar Neck Bridge near Lancaster in October 2021. [5]
Brave the Dark was released in the United States on January 24, 2025. [6] Brave the Dark was approved by the Angel Guild, a group of voters who vote on the Angel Studios platform. [7]
In its opening weekend, the film made $2.3 million from 2,230 theaters, finishing in 12th. [8] [9]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 68% of 31 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.7/10. [10] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 56 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [11] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it an 88% positive score, with 66% saying they would definitely recommend it. [9]
Award | Date | Category | Result | Ref. |
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Heartland International Film Festival | October 6, 2023 [12] | Overall Audience Choice Award | Won | [13] |
Newport Beach Film Festival | October 13, 2023 [14] | Best US Film Audience Award | Won | [15] |
San Diego International Film Festival | October 26, 2023 [16] | Narrative Competition | Nominated | [17] |
Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about 40 miles (64 km) southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime industries. Today it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island draws visitors with a waterfront path and easy access from the ferry to the shops and restaurants.
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Beyond the Gates of Splendor is a documentary film that was released in 2004. It chronicles the events leading up to and following Operation Auca, an attempt to contact the Huaorani tribe of Ecuador in which five American missionaries were killed. The film was produced by Bearing Fruit Productions and distributed by Every Tribe Entertainment.
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