The Darkest Universe

Tom Kingsley and Will Sharpe follow up their delightfully-dark 2011 debut Black Pond with The Darkest Universe, a film that serves as both a subtle reminder about the intimacy of family relations and a stunning advertisement for the UK’s canal network.

Sharpe stars as Zac, a city banker whose already-difficult life is turned upside-down by the disappearance of his sister Alice (Tiani Ghosh), last seen travelling down the Regents Canal on an old houseboat. Alice’s presence hangs over Zac’s life like an albatross – a difficult sister who in the past had been labelled as possibly autistic, Alice is arrogant and difficult, refusing to find herself a job or do any of the washing-up. Zac and his long-term girlfriend Eva (Sophia di Martino) attempt to change things, first moving her into the houseboat, and then getting her to look after Eva’s grandma. But once Alice actually gets up and goes, a hole opens up in Zac’s existence, and he is driven to the brink in an attempt to find her.

With this set-up, it seems like The Darkest Universe would be a depressingly bleak, Mike Leigh-esque exploration of London life, but the film is surprisingly upbeat. As Zac begins to crack up, he pours all his energy into creating a campaign to find Alice, focusing on fancy websites and a regular video-blog in which he obsessively attempts to remain upbeat. These sections, his ‘postcards from the canal’, are the most effective in the film, allowing humour to cut through all of Zac’s nervous desperation.

While I loathe to use this word – which, in the run up to and fallout of Brexit, has become more and more toxic – there’s something unmistakably ‘British’ about The Darkest Universe. Not in a Carry On, kitsch kind of way, but rather how it reflects the subtle nuances of the emotional and cultural life of the UK. For me, the closest resemblance to The Darkest Universe was Ben Wheatley’s Sightseers, which also took a sideways look at modern British life through the guise of a tour of the countryside, with all its subtle menace.

With The Darkest Universe, Sharpe and Kingsley have created a delicate, fine film, one that floats along with a zephyr-like lightness. Its strong cast, led by Sharpe, help communicate the strength of family ties and the crushing impact of loss in a way that is insightful, but never too heavy. The Darkest Universe is a hidden gem, one that deserves to be uncovered and shared.