Cert 15
110 mins
BBFC advice: Contains very strong language, strong violence, drug use, references to child abuse
Nowadays it is fairly common for a movie to be screened at only one UK cinema.
Frustratingly, from an everyfilm point of view, it only requires three shows to make it a target so a week's listing at AMC Manchester put Dark Places on my agenda.
Gilles Paquet-Brenner's thriller, based on the Gillian Flynn novel, tries its hardest to be taut and twisted but never quite meets its ambition.
It stars Charlize Theron as Libby Day who escaped the slaughter of her family on their Kansas farm 28 years previously.
Libby's evidence was key in the conviction of her brother (Corey Stoll) who has been in jail for nearly three decades.
She is convinced she made the correct call until she is contacted by Kill Club - a group of fanatics who try to solve real crimes.
Its treasurer (Nicholas Hoult) persuades her to speak to her brother for the first time since the killings and this begins a trail which makes her doubt his guilt.
Dark Places isn't a bad movie but, despite stories of Theron suffering nightmares while filming, it never grabs as much as it should.
Part of the reason might be the way in which it flicks from present day to the past. This happens so often that it becomes distracting rather than heightening the intensity of the plot.
Theron and Chloe Grace Moretz (as the girlfriend of Libby's brother) do their best to give the movie a spark but it never catches light.
Whatever is to blame for its lack of punch it has resulted in Dark Places being limited to one screening in the UK and me cursing AMC Manchester.
Reasons to watch: decent performance from Charlize Theron
Reasons to avoid: doesn't have the edge it needs to be a successful thriller
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 5/10