A Gothic Spiral of Addiction, Blood, and Identity
How Far Does the Dark Go?
MOVIE REVIEW
How Far Does the Dark Go?
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Genre: Supernatural Romance
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 1h 38m
Director(s): Bears Rebecca Fonté
Writer(s): Bears Rebecca Fonté
Cast: Chloe Carroll, Anna Hindman, Sam Rothermel, Robert Picardo, Telita Perry, Jim Schubin, Kim Wong
Where to Watch: shown at the 2025 Queer Screams Film Festival
RAVING REVIEW: There are vampire films that seduce, others that scare, and then there are the rare few that leave a mark not with their fangs, but with their slow, psychological burn. HOW FAR DOES THE DARK GO? is one of those films. Directed by Bears Rebecca Fonté, this supernatural romance doesn't just draw blood—it asks what you’re willing to trade for power, connection, and control.
At the center of the story is Grace (Anna Hindman), a nurse already tethered to addiction and despair. Her abduction by Evienne (Chloe Carroll), a vampire haunting the depths of Philadelphia’s forgotten subway tunnels, sets off a strange emotional chain reaction. Instead of resisting, Grace begins to unravel and transform—not through fear, but through reluctant understanding. Forced to care for Evienne’s human son Henry (Robert Picardo), who is dying of cancer, Grace finds herself caught between her role as caregiver, potential victim, and something far more complicated.
What begins as a hostage scenario gradually becomes a tangle of blurred lines: between predator and protector, love and manipulation, death and rebirth. There’s something deeply unsettling about how easily Grace slips into the underground world she’s thrust into, how naturally she begins to empathize with her captor. But that's the trick. Fonté’s script doesn’t offer a clean morality tale—it dances in the discomfort of coercion, addiction, and the illusion of choice.
The film thrives in its atmosphere. Set design leans into Gothic grime—brick, blood, and decay—but layered beneath is a music video energy, pulsing with an ambitious, bass-heavy soundtrack that mirrors Grace’s descent. It’s not a subtle movie, and it’s not trying to be. From a vampire ex-girlfriend with a vendetta, Sam Rothermel’s Tempest, to a vigilante slayer, Telita Perry’s Dayanar, drawn in by the growing body count, the film slowly expands its world without ever losing focus on Grace’s collapse.
That said, HOW FAR DOES THE DARK GO? doesn’t aim to shock through gore. The horror isn’t in the bite marks—it’s in how seduction is used as a weapon. Fonté's direction is steeped in queerness and sensuality, borrowing from genre predecessors without feeling derivative. The camera lingers, the soundtrack swells, and you're left unsure whether Grace is falling in love or giving up entirely.
Hindman’s performance anchors the film. There’s an understated fragility to her portrayal of Grace—an addict who never fully lost herself, but who may willingly give up what’s left. Hindman doesn’t go big, which is what makes her arc so compelling. Even when she's being pulled deeper into Evienne’s world, her tether to reality never fully snaps, making her transformation that much harder to watch. Carroll, meanwhile, plays Evienne with a carefully measured coldness, only occasionally letting emotion peek through. It’s that restraint that makes the character work—she’s not human, and the film never pretends otherwise.
Picardo brings unexpected heart to Henry, the dying son who sees both his mother and Grace clearly and tries, in his own way, to hold them accountable. His presence is limited but impactful. There's a heartbreaking irony in the fact that he, the most vulnerable, becomes the center of a world collapsing under blood and desire.
Visually, the film doesn’t always have the budget to match its ambition, but it leans into shadow and suggestion. The setting allows for texture over polish, and there’s a tactile quality to the worldbuilding that makes the vampire lore feel lived-in rather than mythic. Even the minor details add to the sense that this world had existed long before Grace entered it.
The pacing occasionally wobbles, especially in the second act, as Grace’s transformation stretches out over a few too many monologues and dreamlike sequences. A tighter edit might have heightened the emotion. However, it’s hard to fault a film that commits so deeply to its themes. HOW FAR DOES THE DARK GO? isn’t just about vampires—it’s about surrender. About what happens when survival feels hollow, and power becomes the only escape. It doesn’t try to redeem its characters. It asks if they ever wanted redemption in the first place.
Fonté has crafted a queer horror-romance that isn’t afraid to get messy, both visually and emotionally. It’s sexy. It’s devastating. And it stays with you long after the final shot, whispering the question back at you: how far would you go?
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[photo courtesy of REAL RAIN PRODUCTIONS, END ETERNAL PRODUCTIONS, FEAR CRYPT]
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