From Darkness

Imagine you’ve peered into your next-door neighbours’ home, dinner is cooking, the lounge is alive with family and conversation is flowing; audiences feel like a fly on the wall at Steven Oliver’s, ‘From Darkness’.

A raw, emotional and downright hilarious look at how one Indigenous family struggles with the loss of a member to suicide.

Set on the anniversary of Vinnie’s death, the family gathers for dinner, but tensions run high and emotions bubble over with family-driven confrontations and admissions of guilt.

The three generations of women offer a very complex relationship, all handling grief in different ways.

A worthy mention to Roxanne McDonald who played Nanna Lou, she executed amazingly her character with passion, rapid-fire comedy gold one-liners and no holds-barred-opinions on family (specifically aimed towards Lisa Maza’s character Abigail).

Maza also a notable mention of her ability to jump between a complex portrayal of emotional vulnerability to seconds later demanding attention with such passionate and intense deliverance of the amazingly written script.

A standout performance from Benjin Maza (Preston) who drove home the underlying themes of culture and beliefs.

His experiences of the supernatural, aided with beautiful projections, lights and sounds really transported audiences to a spiritual plane.

His well-scripted spiritual connections played a major catalyst for reconnecting his family and igniting the road to healing.

From Darkness unapologetically intertwines Aboriginal lingo and culture into a journey through how one family heals in the aftermath of suicide.