DARKEN: Before The Dark (DBTD) is the intriguing 33-minute sequel short film to the forthcoming full-length sci-fi thriller DARKEN.

Directed by Audrey Cummings, DBTD is the story of Darken, a peculiar otherworldly dimension ruled by a mysterious entity known as “Mother Darken” (Laura Nordin).

The denizens of Darken are all individuals transported there after suffering severe physical and/or emotional trauma.

Once they arrive, all memories of their trauma - and their lives in the outside world - vanish. Armed with only the memory of their names, citizens of Darken discover they no longer age, feel hunger, temperature extremes, or pain.

In Darken, they are free to explore the endless labyrinthine halls and rooms that make up the realm.

However, when a new arrival named Kim (Annie Briggs) comes to Darken, cracks in this odd paradise begin to show.

Greeting Kim is Olive (Jodelle Ferland, Dark Matter), a young woman whose role is to initiate newcomers to the traditions of Darken.

Olive sees Mother Darken as a benevolent deity whose only desire is to protect her charges within her realm.

Other key citizens of Darken are soon revealed, including:

Artemis (Emmanuel Kabongo), a man mistrustful of Mother Darken’s motives

Martin (Ari Millen) who has lived in Darken the longest of anyone and now serves as the realm’s historian

Wren (Paul Amos), a true believer in Mother Darken’s teachings

Lucian (John Tench), the newest and most problematic arrival to the world of Darken

However, the most divisive of Darken’s citizens is Clarity (Christine Horne), a mercurial woman who, unlike Olive, believes Mother Darken is not a benevolent deity, but instead a god who must be feared and obeyed without question.

When a catastrophic event shakes Darken to its core, a civil war erupts between those who subscribe to Olive’s interpretation of Mother Darken’s nature and those who do not.

As a prequel, DBTD succeeds in introducing viewers to the odd and mysterious realm of Darken and its key players; it also introduces many questions that beg to be answered in a future installment.

Questions such as who or what is Mother Darken? What exactly is Darken? Is it an afterlife? A parallel dimension? A bizarre experiment?

Director Audrey Cummings has created a paradise-nightmare world with aesthetics drawn from a mish-mash of genre properties, chief among them the haunted house vibe of the Silent Hill video game franchise.

The project’s inclusive cast is what also places DBTD solidly in the “must-see” column. It is always refreshing to see the richness of humanity reflected onscreen