'Brave the Dark' Livestream Introduces the Team Behind the Film Coming To Theaters in January

Angel Studios is once again bringing films that amplify light to theaters. On January 24th, 2025 Brave the Dark comes to theaters, which features a prodigal son story, except with a good teacher instead of a good father.

Angel describes the film's synopsis here as: "When Mr. Deen (actor Jared Harris: Chernobyl, The Crown) discovers one of his students has been living out of his car and thrown into jail, he decides to bail him out. Determined to curb Nate’s self-destructive behavior, Mr. Deen quickly discovers a host of dark secrets that are slowly tearing Nate apart. What started as a good deed becomes a desperate fight to save Nate from his own demons. As Nate spirals deeper into despair, Mr. Deen must decide how far he’s willing to go to save a kid on the brink of losing everything—even himself."

Jared Harris is quite an impressive actor, but I'm not aware of this new actor who plays Nate, Nicholas Hamilton. The producer, Nathaniel Deen, also works at Sight & Sound Theaters which produced a great film, I Heard the Bells (about Henry Wordsworth Longfellow), last year. And yes, this story is based upon Nathaniel Deen's true story growing up in Lancaster, PA.

They describe the script as a tear-jerker here before the film was even made. And as a piece of drama with daddy-issues, this feels like a very relevant kind of story today, where men are dropping out of churches, and schools, and out of polite society today, which is of course dominated by women today.

My issue with the idea of this film is that it may have been a true story in its time but it may now point modern kids in the wrong direction. Thinking that a teacher or school administrator can "save them" may be an unhelpful solution, especially while research has shown that 9% of all kids in public schools today will likely end up abused by a teacher or adult administrator in school.

The times they are a changin' and the idea of the public institution that can be trustworthy has been tarnished as a go-to surety for some time now.

Here is the trailer.

Angel discusses the release of the film here on their site.

Brave the Dark | Coming to Theaters Jan 24th 2025

Tortured by his past, Nate finds himself engulfed in darkness when his drama teacher takes him in.

Angel Studios

It looks like a powerfully humanizing story that is well made, and it may teach some people that there are solutions, even when your own parents or authority figures can't quite cut it.

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Did you enjoy hearing about Brave the Dark coming in January? Is this a film you are interested in or are interested in learning more about? Let us know what you think down below (with sub) or comment on our social media!