Review: The Descent (2005)

Robert Ring
Fri, 04 May 2012 20:28:08 +0000
Theatrical release, Monsters, UK

The Descent could be seen as a textbook guide to instilling horror in viewers. However, to view this film in such a way would be to consider it a mere genre exercise when instead it is a jarring metaphor for the pain of exploring our darkest thoughts. The horror here, which is accomplished as perfectly as it likely could have been, does not exist solely to frighten but to evoke the terror of such a journey into the subconscious. Specifically, the film follows one character's descent into an unexplored cave system, which almost inherently becomes a metaphorical descent into the unexplored recesses of her own mind. The Descent is merciless, but more importantly, it never falters from its attempt to tell the story of a character's confrontation of the hidden aspects of her psychology.