Dark Harbor
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
David Weinberg (Alan Rickman), a lawyer in his 50s, and his much younger wife Alexis (Polly Walker), drive through a torrential rainstorm to get the last ferry to their private island. They catch sight of an injured young man (Norman Reedus) at the side of the road, whom they reluctantly drive to the nearest town.
Having missed their ferry, the couple checks into a motel, and take the next day's ferry. The young man (never named in the course of the film), is also on the ferry, though they do not meet.
David and Alexis have a troubled seven-year marriage, punctuated by miscommunication and missed opportunities. In an attempt to make up for his displays of temper, David arranges a romantic sailing excursion, but this goes terribly wrong when they encounter a fogbank and run aground. They find the young man camping on the shore, and are invited, after an initial misunderstanding, to share his fire. David recruits his assistance with ungrounding the sailboat, and invites him into his home.
That evening, Alexis dreams that she has taken a blanket to the young man and that her husband has attacked her in a fit of jealousy. In the morning, the couple discovers that he has made them a lovely breakfast, and it transpires that David has actually delivered the blanket to him.
David invites the young man to stay for dinner that night to sample his own cooking in a challenge, then leaves to play golf. Alexis and the man waste time together while downing a bottle of whiskey, talking about themselves and dressing up for fun in the boat house. He explains that he is a poet, but that he is unable to write and shows Alexis his work, all in different handwriting. He persuades her to take dictation of a quite dark poem describing drowning. Eventually they go off on a wild mushroom hunting walk in the nearby woods, and Alexis stops the young man from consuming a mushroom that she says would have killed him in a minute. She then shows him how to tell the difference between the lethal mushroom he almost ate, and one that looks almost identical, but is in fact an aphrodisiac. After failing to convince her to eat the aphrodisiac mushroom, they return home, where he apologises.
David returns from golf, claiming to be ill, but he recovers enough to make dinner for his wife and the man when he is reminded of the challenge. The plans to return the man to town are thwarted, however, when David takes him across on the boat and it dies half-way, leaving the man with no option but to stay with them another night, which he doesn't seem pleased about. The next morning, however, David provokes an argument with Alexis and gets into a brief fight with the young man, who flees to hide in the shed when David comes after him. He is driven out of the shed and runs into the woods, David still chasing after him. When David approaches Alexis in the woods, she tells him that they're through and then finds the young man on the ground. He seduces her while trying to coerce her into eating one of the mushrooms. This time, unlike the last, she doesn't stop him from continuing.
A funeral follows, and the young man's poem, written in Alexis' handwriting and signed by her, is read, as if it was her suicide note. David then returns to the island by boat. He strips and swims to shore in the icy water, as if stripping off and washing away his former life.
Some time later, someone arrives at the house, seen from the back wearing a hooded jacket. The stranger kisses David, and is revealed to be the young man. It becomes abundantly clear that he and David are lovers, and that Alexis' death was planned by the two of them.

Review: Once you overlook those faults, and see it the second time, you realize that this truly is one of those film gems that you treasure and bring out on a dark rainy night to show your unsuspecting friends.
"It's funny your worst nightmare always seems so far away!" Dark Habour's characters, a married couple (Alan Rickman & Polly Hunter) and a vagabond (Norman Reedus), are slipping into a game full of hidden sexual energy and treason.
I think this movie is different apart from most films I've seen.
If the ending hadn't been so fantastically unexpected, I don't think I could rate this movie so well.This movie has a lot of uncomfortable, distressing, "marriage falling apart" character interaction.
That sort of thing is not my kind of drama, so the pace seemed to drag for me.In addition, the main characters are difficult to relate to and thus care much about -- the husband (Alan Rickman) is rather bitter and cranky and the wife (Polly Walker) is aloof and a little haughty.
The cinematography had something to it that seemed a little old-fashioned to me somehow.But the last 5-15 minutes of this movie are so ingenious that every uncomfortable scene, awkward conversation, and inexplicable character behavior absolutely worth it.
I guessed every typical plot twist except the one that occurred.The ending definitely makes this movie worth watching.
Alan shines in this as he does in everything, and there's just something so loveable about Norman Reedus.The ending *WILL* come as a shock.
Filmed against a autumnal Maine backdrop, this movie boasts an excellent cast and a plot that keeps you guessing throughout.
This is one of my all time favorite movies, it's great to watch in groups, I find.
Dark Harbour is a quaint, little seen romantic thriller from the late 90's that sets up an alluring atmosphere in the brief time we get to spend with it, and then ventures slightly into territory that's a bit beyond its initial calculations, providing a super lurid, erotic third act that might not sit well with viewers who patiently followed it along the tracks of logic before it faltered slightly.
It's funny though, because the ridiculousness of the twist ending is one of the main aspects that has made the movie stick in my mind since I saw it like eight years ago.
Alan Rickman and Polly Walker play a wealthy couple on their way to a remote getaway at a snazzy, forest covered property they own in picturesque Maine.
From their tension arises to an uncomfortable level as the drifter proves to be both a third wheel and a sinister force of unease to both, culminating in an ambient, rainy forest finale that stands as the best sequence in the film, and a nice bit of work at that.
Rickman doesn't usually go for this kind of melodramatic, American stuff and it's surprising in a good way to see him flex his genre muscles.
Before Norman Reedus became a fan-favorite on the popular television series, 'The Walking Dead,' he was a small-time actor gathering a bit of attention through a conjunction of both mainstream and independent films - such notable titles being a small role in the tense thriller, '8MM' with Nicolas Cage, the John Hughes-penned drama, 'Reach the Rock,' and of course an early role opposite Mira Sorvino in the sci- fi thriller, 'Mimic.' But in 1998, he starred opposite Alan Rickman and Polly Walker in the rather strange, tautly-wound, independent, suspense film, 'Dark Harbor,' an eerily eccentric tale of forbidden love with only a select few characters inhibiting the screen throughout its duration.The movie follows three characters woven into a sort of psychological array of hidden motives and blind attraction.
Norman Reedus stars as a drifter who is picked up by a bickering married couple (Rickman and Walker) and finds himself getting stuck with the two on a rather isolated property in the south-eastern part of Maine.
Along the way, tension grows and the shaky marriage begins to be questioned further due to the interference of the drifter.The film features a haunting musical score by relatively unknown composer, David Mansfield, atmospheric locations, and a psychological foray into one of the darkest areas of the human mind.
The middle-aged lawyer David Weinberg (Alan Rickman) has been married for seven years with his very young wife Alexis Chandler Weinberg (Polly Walker).
When David leaves the house to play golf, Alexis and the drifter spend the time together and he tells that he is a poet, but cannot write, and shows his poems written by different people.
What will happen to them?"Dark Harbor" is a great thriller even when the viewer watches for the second time.
So I've been on a quest to watch all things Norman Reedus, and am very happy to have found this little movie which I love.
I loved it so much that after I first watched a downloaded file of it, I searched many stores online and finally found a second hand copy of the DVD on eBay, which I purchased.I like small, character-driven movies and this is one of my favorites.
I knew how it was going to end before watching, but not all the details of it, so although I would have liked to be surprised, I still enjoyed the suspense of the film and seeing how the characters reacted to one another.If you are a fan of any of these actors this is a must-see, as they all had amazing performances.
It's basically a 3-character piece, featuring a finely-layered performance by the always-great Rickman, with Polly Walker and Norman Reedus (also excellent) forming the other two sides of this strange triangle.
A perfect late-night cable film, with a surprise ending to boot..
I had read all the reviews here, I knew the ending, but being one of the few Rickman movies I hadn't seen I had to see it anyway.
+There may be Spoilers+ Nothing really new here involving a couple who run into this injured stranger as their driving through a heavy rainstorm in rural Maine.David & Alexis Weinberg, Alan Rickman & Polly Walker, were on their way to catch a ferry home but are delayed until the next day when they miss the boat.
Picking up this young stranger ,Norman Needus, who was thought at first to be dead he ends up also getting on the ferry the next morning and sailing for the Weinbergs' island home.
Up until the time when David leaves both the stranger and Alexis alone, and goes to see some friends on the mainland, you have no idea where the movie "Dark Harbor" is taking you.There's something going on between the three, David Alexis & the stranger,but it's so weird that you feel that at any moment you would find out that it's a dream, or hallucination,like the dream that Alexis had, about David attacking her with an ax, earlier in the movie.
Just when you think the film "Dark Harbor" is over your hit with theses two scenes catching you off guard, as your trying to figure just what happened in the film,that explains the reason for the strangers present on the island and in both David's & Alxis' lives.Very confusing story but the breathtaking and gorgeous photography of the state of Maine make the movie worth sitting through.
The surprise ending isn't really that hard to figure out since the stranger showed his true feeling, and colors, to Alexis earlier in the film when he did a skit of a 1962 birthday party for JFK at Madison Square Garden.
It became obvious at the end of the movie that all that happened between David & Alxis involving the stranger was no accident at all but planned well in advance.
Overall though, the acting from Rickman was great, Reedus was good, Walker was okay but I had misgivings.
I loved the ending because it was so interesting and, if you watch the movie a second time, makes perfect sense.
This has got to be one of the most boring, pointless, confusing, badly edited, badly scripted movies of all time.Alan Rickman has an accent issue in this movie, which was really disapointing, because we all know how delicious his normal accent is.
WHAT WAS THAT ACCENT?!!Unless you have a mad desire to see Alan Rickman and Reedus share a kiss, (which might actually be enough to get people to rent this movie,) oh please...
I had just finished the Infiltrator, which is a great movie, and I thought this looked good as well.
Rickman is good...but he always is...the other two characters work well, but there's no real story to support any of it.
The plot revolves around three characters, a man, his wife, and a stranger that they pick up from the high way.
I watched this as one of only two Norman Reedus movies I hadn't seen, and...
Again, given the actors, and the majority of the movie, I'd say it was just awkward scripting.The copy that I seen had horrible sound quality, which did make it a little difficult to comment honestly, since I'm sure I missed at least 1/4 of the dialog.
Also, not sure if it was (again) just my bad copy, or if it was meant to be filmed as such, but it had a very grainy, almost old-movie style quality about it.
Sometimes, the tension almost does seem to be a bit too much (there were several points where I almost felt like leaving the room, before I remembered it was just a movie), but...
I've seen a few reviews that said they had to watch it quite a few times before everything became really clear; I'm not sure if I care enough to do that..
It happens.To understand what is going on, here is something that seems to have escaped the notice of 99% of the reviewers of this movie.
Of course, I thought that it would be the woman and therefore the end a good deal surprised me but as she had died and I had been waiting for something to happen at last, it was merely amusing.
What a pity that even the fine idea of this film, even Alan Rickman, Polly Walker and Norman Reedus, could not make it really thrilling.
I kept waiting for something more to happen.The music seemed really low-budget, sort of like a B-horror movie but softer, and the script could have been better.
Instead of feeling something for the characters, I was just embarrassed to watch them interacting the way they did.The ending was completely out of the blue (in fact, the last three scenes just came out of nowhere), and the whole thing just didn't make a whole lot of sense.
the plot itself is compelling, and the actors are excellent, especially Alan Rickman.
If you want to watch a movie that does not provide all the answers before asking the questions, a movie that will surprise you (in good or bad), Dark Harbor's for you.
A troubled couple picks up a troubled stranger only to find more trouble.Some movies build tension by building the story.
The only thing that was shocking to me was that the movie finally ended.
The best look at Alan Rickman yet seen on film....
Nonetheless, he has moments of stellar scenery chewing, and the film offers sinister ambiguity from Norman Reedus, the pretty Polly Walker, and a surprise ending (telescoped to frequent filmgoers), while affording a beautiful look at the physiography of both Maine and Rickman.
I saw this film only because of Alan Rickman who is one of my very favourite actors.
All movie long you get the feeling that soon something interesting will take place and it will suddenly turn into a tensed thriller, but that doesn't happen.
I don't think I could give a very good review/recommendation for this, but I would like to comment on the film.
The homosexual twist of the plot doesn't really change the meaning, just makes the slap the audience gets at the end even harder--not a bad thing in my opinion.Sexuality:Several people have critiqued DH as an attempt to bait "proper" viewers into an intriguing world just to slam them with an attack on modern society's politics and issues.
This is defiantly a scene better taken in by an audience who already knows it's going to happen.The Players:Alan Rickman: Rickman does a wonderful job of melding with the other two actors to create a believable film.
Though robbed of his usual vocal power, Rickman proves that there is more to him than voice as his acting maintains its high standard.Polly Walker: Walker shows her own talent in Dark Harbor as she swings from the critical wife to the wronged lover, and then back, and to several other places along the way.
Alexis seems to fall out of character a few times, going from the seemingly assertive business type to a passive observer, most notably in the scenes she shares with the young stranger.Norman Reedus: I had never seen Reedus act in anything prior to watching to this film.
The "sexy mushrooms" scenes were a bit of a stretch, but I think Reedus has found a way to make fungus appealing, even if only because the viewer associates it with rolling drunkenly in fern saplings with a dark stranger--a fantastical thought which had, until present, never entered my mind.
There are parts where one must wonder if the part was poorly written for a line or two, or if Reedus just wasn't in the mood to work that day, but these are relatively easy to over-look as the film is swept along to another angle.Overall:On the whole, I think Dark Harbor was an interesting film full of visual usage that I can not say was always effective.
You just have to pay attention to what is going on in the film.(I guess they are spoilers)The red stuff under David's mouth?
But the ending made up for the entire film.And for that and the very last scene...
But if you are not watching this for the performances that the actors give, I'd say you better let this one go, because that is all that keeps this certain film together..
It's a bit difficult to understand the plot around it- it took me two viewings of the film to realize what was going on.
I also saw this film because it stars Alan Rickman (one of my favourite actors).
And was all that part of the final plan?b) did the boat really sink near the end of the film?
The biggest mystery of them all.SPOILERS ENDThe cinematography and music were average but could have been better.However, I give this film a 7 and would recommend it to Norman Reedus and Alan Rickman fans (especially for the ending!)7/10.
good minor b-movie with a great ending.
This film  is a minor film, but quite enjoyable & without giving a spoiler it does have an ending that I was hoping for,  Alan Rickman & Polly Walker are a slightly bickering married couple until a young man  Norman Reedus enters there lives one weekend on a lonely Island off the coast of Maine.
Ding Dongs and Alan Rickman Gay. If you came here to be blown away odds are you found the right movie to watch.
The whole time you are watching it you are thinking WTF?
but then there is a twist ending....i rented this movie because i am a die hard Norman Reedus fan.
i think norman reedus is a great actor!
i mean, at the end, alan and norman kiss...so did they know each other for a long time before that or had they just met recently.
but yes i agree with a few other people commenting on it, and i'll say you have to watch it a few times to really like it.i have to say...the end...the kiss...wow.
And of course, there's Alan Rickman in all his native glory!!!!The amazing thing about this movie is that it contains basically the same plot as DEATHTRAP, in which it appears that the young man is killed, but the primary purpose of the pretended murder is to make the pressure so great om the wife with the heart condition, that she will drop dead.
I am personally an Alan Rickman fan, and only rented this film because he was in it.
At the end I was so shocked at the film's confusing plot and it took me a while to realize what all had just happened.
The homosexuality was also surprising, you'd expect Rickman to be killed for the sake of Alexis and the boys affair, but instead you get a shocking love triangle.
Rickman's performance in this film was great, he just chose the wrong movie to act in..
I'm starting to think of the list of women I am going to e-mail and tell to "watch this movie".
When the husband is finally out of the picture, they're finally alone and looking into each other's eyes, and..............FLASH, the movie's over and it turns out he's gay and they were just setting her up all the time.
*SPOILER* I watched this movie, basically, because Alan Rickman was in it.
I recommend this boring movie, solely to those who want to see Mr. Rickman in action.
I watched it three times just to *try* to understand what was going on.
You end up seeing Alan Rickman naked and then making out with another guy.
Does Alan Rickman *read* the scripts before he signs on the movies???.
Well, I watched it, and aside from Alan Rickman, this movie SUCKED!
It's a good movie for fellow Alan lovers, but if you're just looking for a movie to watch, don't see it.
Well, I expected to end in absolutely different way, I mean like someone cuted half hour from the movie.
I am a big fan of Alan Rickman and Norman Reedus too, but that end got you a few points from the vote too, not usual, not normal, not...