Highly recommended

Rating: 10/10 (21 November 2007)

I confess that I am not the biggest fan of Stephen King, but I have read a number of his books, which for the most part I find entertaining and fun, but usually not all that thought provoking.
Most of the time, that is. I was, however, quite impressed with the film adaptations of Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption, and I did not realize that the same director, Frank Darabont was responsible for this film as well. Apparently Mr. Darabont and Mr. King bring out the best in one another. This film is advertised as a horror film, and it does work very well as a horror film, on a level similar to The Birds or The Thing (there is a poster from the latter film in the first scene of Mist that serves as a kind of homage, if you are familiar with the John Carpenter poster from the remake, and I'm certain we were meant to notice it). Having had a couple of hours to digest The Mist, I have to say I was much more impressed with the film as a kind of allegory, or statement about humanity. It serves as an excellent example of how we treat each other, secretly or even openly respond to opinions of others, and the animosities that we often hide from each other just below the surface.
Just as in the films The Birds and The Thing, a cross-section of people with various backgrounds, in this case, blacks, whites, teachers, artists, religious fanatics, working class Joes, etc, are trapped together, isolated from the rest of the world. They need to trust each other and work with each other to survive. Because of their lack of trust and unwillingness to work together, however, this may prove impossible. I think it is an excellent statement about the times in which we live and I believe as time goes on, this film will be seen as a classic. Check it out, by all means and see what you think. If you have an open mind, it should give you a great deal to think about.