I truly believe that this movie single-handedly started my love for horror movies. The 2016 film Lights Out, which was directed by David F. Sandberg, is the epitome of the ideal horror movie. It is terrifying, has a great backstory, and as always has a hidden message behind it. You might need to change your pants after watching this one but I promise you, it is worth it. 
PLOT:
**MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS PEOPLE**
The movie starts off in what seems to be a factory after hours. A man named Paul, played by Billy Burke, is on the phone with his son Martin, played by Gabriel Bateman, talking about how Martin thinks his mentally ill mother is no longer taking her medication and is now talking to a woman named “Diana”. Mid-conversation, Paul sees a woman-like figure under the flickering lights outside his office, but only sees her when the lights are off. He notices that the figure is getting closer and closer the more the lights go out, and eventually, he meets a gruesome end.
A few months pass and we are introduced to the mother Sophie, played by Maria Bello, and see that her condition has gotten worse. Martin is so disturbed by the conversations between Sophie and “Diana”, and also the scratching noises at night, that he is no longer able to sleep. After falling asleep multiple times during the school day, the school calls Martin’s older stepsister Rebecca, played by Teresa Palmer, when they cannot reach his mother. Rebecca’s father also mysteriously disappeared/died when she was young, so when Martin mentions Sophie’s new friend “Diana”, Rebecca quickly recognizes the name from her traumatic childhood with Sophie and takes Martin in. Sophie did not like that and ultimately takes Martin back, to which Rebecca takes it upon herself to figure out who exactly “Diana” is and why she is back to haunt her family again.
Because of Rebecca’s research, we find out that Sophia and “Diana” were childhood friends back when they were both patients in a mental hospital. “Diana” had a rare medical condition that caused her to react badly to sunlight, and during an experiment gone wrong (she was put into an electric chair and was legit turned into dust), she became a vengeful ghost who kills her victims in the dark. Since “Diana” and Sophie were friends, “Diana” follows her around but causes no harm to Sophie. The worst part of it all is that “Diana” only comes around when Sophie is at her worst mentally, like when she is not taking her medications, and feeds off of Sophie’s negative emotions. The more depressed Sophie is, the stronger and more dangerous “Diana” becomes.
When Rebecca figures out this information, she immediately goes to Sophie’s house and tries to save Martin. Rebecca, Martin, and Rebecca’s boyfriend Bret, played by Alexander DiPersia, team up to light up Sophie’s house to try and keep “Diana” away. But once Sophie realizes that “Diana” is hurting her family and is dependent on her sadness, Sophie kills herself, which causes “Diana” to disappear.
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MY ANALYSIS:
This movie is 100% a dark, scary depiction of how it is to live with mental illnesses, specifically depression. The director took it upon himself to display many of the symptoms of depression: Sophie isolating herself in her room, not wanting to socialize or see her children, refusing to take her medications, etc. I think “Diana” represents mental illness as a whole. Sophie’s demons so to say get stronger and stronger the more her mental health declines, until ultimately she thinks her only way out is to commit suicide.
Lights Out also does a great job at showing how someone’s mental health affects the people that care about them, especially their family. It can cause distress and ultimately hurt others. Both husbands that Sophie had were killed by “Diana”/her mental illness, Martin was not able to sleep because he was so worried about Sophie’s demons, and Rebecca ultimately moved out of Sophie’s house because she was so traumatized from “Diana”. A small, but key detail that the director put into the movie is when Rebecca realizes who “Diana” is and touches scars on her arm that are from “Diana” when haunted her when Rebecca was younger. This could signify either Sophie’s mental illnesses hurting Rebecca or Rebecca hurting herself from the distress of Sophie’s state.
Taking care of your mental health is just as important as taking care of your physical health and the director of Lights Out did a phenomenal job of shedding light (I know my puns are so funny) on this issue that is not talked about enough. When Sophie was taking her medications and taking care of herself, “Diana” was not around, but once she slipped up and started going down hill again, “Diana” came back with full force.
I think it is safe to say that I have watched this movie enough to notice small details such as Rebecca touching her scars. This movie, in my opinion, is a masterpiece. Does the ending suck? YES. But I truly have no complaints. The movie answers every question asked and gives the right about of background information to understand why everything is happening within the movie.
Personally, I have never seen “Lights Out,” but from your analysis, it seems like a film that I would be interested in watching. Mental health plays such an essential role in everyone’s lives, so when Sophie did not take care of that aspect, her life declined drastically. I liked how you brought up minor details that the average-audience member might not have picked up on. Well done!
I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on “Lights Out,” and I definitely liked how you identified underlying themes and ideas from the plot. While the horror genre might not have been my first thought when considering portrayals of mental health, reading your thoughts made me realize how effective of a tool the horror genre is when portraying the effects of mental health struggles. In particular, I found it interesting to see how when Sophie was at her lowest points, her family was affected by Diana. Overall, great blog!
This sounds like an interesting movie! The concept is new (in my limited library of horror movies, at least) and it does get some things right. While I don’t think a horror movie that involved the brutal deaths of multiple people is the hallmark of mental illness representation, like you said, it was accurate in some regards. The symptoms you described in Sophie were more accurate than most media representations, and while I would normally say that no good treatment team would want a depression patient only on medications without therapy, I do understand that point was important to the decline that furthered the movie’s plot.
I am not a horror fan movie at all (except for the Quiet Place but I don’t think it’s even close to being as scary as this movie), but I have to say that the plot of this movie is interesting. I think it’s so important that directors try their best to send messages through their movies because it can educate a lot of people or at least give them a slight idea of how it feels to be in someone else’s shoes. I also liked that the director wasn’t afraid to do a very dark plot to show the real effects of depression. Sometimes in movies directors don’t really show the whole truth or kind of just leave important information out so that the viewers can enjoy the movie more but in reality, they are not educating their viewers as much as they should, so I’m glad the director did his best.
I really enjoyed reading your post and can’t wait for the next one!
Hi Bella, I myself am not too big on horror movies because I’m more of a RomCom kinda guy, but this movie has interest me for a while. Now after reading this weeks blog, the plot of this movies not only captures my attention but makes me want to watch it ASAP! Additionally, with the fact that the director showed the real feelings and the insides of the effects of depression highlights the importance of how significant that is. I enjoyed this weeks blog and plan to watch this movie very soon!!