Into The Dark: Culture Shock Review: May Be The Best Entry Yet

"Into The Dark" began back in October of last year. It's a horror anthology from Hulu/Blumhouse. Each stand-alone episode focuses on a holiday from that month. It should come as no surprise that the July entry is about Independence Day.

We meet a pregnant woman named Marisol (played by Martha Higareda from "Black Carbon"). She is attempted to cross into the US. There are questionable characters at every turn. We see via flashbacks that a man she trusted raped her. She also meets a young boy (Ricky) who is traveling alone as well as a guy fleeing his past (Santos).

The group gets close to the border but is attacked by a gang. Many people are shot. Just when it looks like Marisol is a goner, the US Border Patrol arrives. Are they saved? Nope, not really. Marisol next wakes up in a lovely setting. The town is about to celebrate July 4th. But everything and everyone is too perfect. They all wear pastels. Never trust a person in pastels! It's very Stepford-Wifey.

There's Betty. It's always great to see Barbara Crampton. There's also a guy named Thomas. He seems to be the mayor/ organizer of the events. I thought he was Aaron Ashmore (from "Killjoys"). But nope. It's his twin brother Shawn. Those two REALLY look a lot alike.

Marisol sees her fellow travelers.but they are acting very strangely. Everyone is TOO happy. No one speaks Spanish anymore. Marisol keeps waking up over and over again until she can figure out whats up. She follows Thomas into some sort of portal. She wakes up in a dark room and is all hooked up to medical equipment and feeding tube. What's happening? It turns out she's in a VR creation. The US government has decided that keeping illegal aliens in this state keeps costs down. The immigrants are none the wiser (for the most part). Plus the head of the program says "no one cares about these people". Too bad all the kids died when hooked up to VR.

In the end, Marisol stages a break out. And Thomas helps from his side. He's tired of his morally reprehensible job. Soldiers are ordered to kill everyone. There's lots of death and mayhem. She goes into labor. Talk about bad timing! The survivors head for the US border. Marisol instead turns around and heads back to Mexico with her new baby. It seems the American dream wasnt all it was cracked up to be.

Grade: 5 Monsters (out of 5). Excellent. If "Culture Shock" doesnt get to you, you have no heart. This "Into The Dark" entry has a very "Black Mirror" feel. And it might be the best entry yet. "Culture Shock" was directed by Gigi Saul Guerroero and written by Gigi, James Benson and Efren Hernandez. You may remember there was some ruckus a while back when Jason Blum said they hadnt released any female directed movies because "there are not a lot of female directors period, and even less who are inclined to do horror". This seems to be him moving in the right direction and giving women a place at the table. This is the third female lead entry thus far. The results from "Culture Shock" speak for themselves. I want to see more stories told by Gigi.