Jodie Comer in Alone in the Dark
Jodie Comer was a killer, a queen, and widely known as a potential future Oscar winner. But in her latest project, she's just a girl standing in front of a door, wondering how to open it.
“I need a key,” the famous actress says over and over (and over) throughout the film. Alone in the dark. That line is her mantra, her call sign, her rallying cry—and by far the most repeated line of dialogue in this Lovecraftian horror, in which she stars alongside Stranger Things lead actor David Harbour.
Kill the glamorous assassin Eve Villanelle in a team with Hawkins Sheriff Hopper? It sounds like a match forged in heaven from cellulose. Unfortunately, Alone in the Dark is not a movie or a hot new streaming series. This is a mid-budget video game from Swedish developer Pieces Interactive. And Comer and Harbor are ruining everything.
Casting Hollywood celebrities has been a trend in video games for decades. Ray Liotta voiced the anti-hero Tommy Vercetti in the 2002 game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (an experience he found disconcerting as he had never played a video game before that point). Six years later, Ricky Gervais appeared in Grand Theft Auto IV. In 2012, future Oscar winner Robert Downey Jr. donned a motion capture suit to play a fighter pilot in the shoot-em-up Call Of Duty: Black Ops II. Most recently, Cyberpunk 2077 featured the dynamic duo of Keanu Reeves and Idris Elba (the latest hardcore gamer who rarely leaves home without his Nintendo Switch) created using motion capture.
But Comer and Gavan's double act in Alone in the Dark is something else: a watershed moment when a celebrity cast spoils all the fun. In those early games, big names were heavily involved in marketing. But real games usually stood on their own two digital legs.
You can play Cyberpunk 2077 without even knowing who, what or why Keanu Reeves is. Likewise, it's fair to say that GTA IV would have made its $2 billion box office haul with or without the involvement of the once and future David Brent. However, in Alone in the Dark it's impossible to ignore the presence of Comer and Haven — and they ruin the fun by taking you out of the game.
This remake of the beloved 1992 game features one or both of Comer and Harbor on screen almost all the time. When the haunted house mystery begins, you can play as either Comer's Emily Hartwood or Hopper's Edward Carnby. She is a resourceful young woman searching for her missing uncle. He's a private detective hired to unravel the mystery engulfing Emily's family.
Players spend 100 percent of the game in the shoes of these famous actors — and what an intrusion it becomes. As Emily, you never forget that you're in control of a tiny, pixelated version of the actress who recently received acclaim for her role in Susie Miller's award-winning play Prima Facie.
Comer is always dedicated to his work. to her performances. As Emily, she goes all-in. She puts weight and passion into every line of dialogue. When she explains that she can't open the door because she «needs a key,» it sounds like she's vying for an Oscar nomination.
Losing battle: Jodie Comer's face, as it usually looks. Photo: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
The only fault is her Southern belle melody—its wonkiness is a surprise given Comer's widely recognized skill with accents. However, you have to give her credit for trying her best. The same can be said for Harbor, who brings maximum «Sheriff Hopper energy» to the role of the confused detective.
Alas, they are fighting a losing battle as the game is clearly not up to par. First, their digital avatars are poorly rendered. Comer's face, usually so expressive, looks like it's made of pieces of bread crumpled together. The harbor resembles a giant pale pile of dough.
Another recurring complaint is that Alone in the Dark feels unfinished. The combat is clunky and the animation is blurry. Instead of signing the presumably huge checks that Harbor and Comer are demanding, why not cast lesser-known (and cheaper) actors and invest the money saved in a better performance?
The Alone in the Dark developers have been candid about their motivations for hiring Comer and Harbor. He hoped it would attract more attention, said creative director Mikael Hedbert, who explained that audiences had a «parasocial» relationship with the high-profile stars of «Killing Eve» and «Stranger Things.» Meanwhile, Michael Churiks, casting and voice director for Alone in the Dark, told the New York Times: «If you saw David Harbor and Jodie Comer starring in the new horror movie Alone in the Dark, you'd probably let's go see it.»
Keanu Reeves in Cyberpunk 2077
Comer also had her reasons. She said she was drawn to video games after starring in Free Guy, the 2021 Ryan Reynolds comedy in which she plays a programmer who writes code for a Fortnite-style multiplayer shooter. «It's so incredible to be able to step away from what you usually do and explore something new and challenge yourself,» she said.
Harbor's motives were simpler. “I hope decades from now people will still be watching two-hour movies, but I know they will be playing video games,” he said in an email to the New York Times.
He's 100 percent right. When it comes to mass entertainment, video games are a giant. In 2022, global gaming revenue was $184 billion, compared to the music business's $26.2 billion and the film industry's $26 billion.
Moreover, like Hollywood, games are a showcase for fantastic acting talent. If you're looking for strong performances, look no further than The Last of Us Part II, which starred Ashley Johnson and Laura Bailey as common antagonists Ellie and Abby.
The Last of Us voice actress Ashley Johnson in the HBO game adaptation
Likewise, 2024's Baldur's Gate 3 was full of stellar acting—the game was an old-school fantasy RPG, complete with memorable characters like the dandy elf vampire Astarion (Neil Newbon) and the morally confused half-elf Shadowheart (Jennifer English).
But these actors are not Hollywood stars. They hire actors for whom video games are another way to make a living. They don't bring any baggage to their roles. When you play Ellie in The Last of Us, you never think, “Oh, I'm controlling the actress from Killing Eve,” an experience that many will have with Alone in the Dark.
It's been decades since video games were considered entertainment for children. However, they still have a long way to go before they are considered the creative equal of film or television. You might think that giving star billing to Jodie Comer and David Harbor would boost the credibility of the medium. In Alone in the Dark it's the other way around. These big Hollywood names have been parachuted into a game that needs better gameplay, not a stellar cast.
Alone in the Dark is positioned as an exciting horror game. Unfortunately, the real jump scare comes when you start playing and realize that having two top players isn't a bonus, it's a deal breaker. For the first and hopefully last time in her career, Jodie Comer completely fails to measure up. Whether she's asking for the keys or just wandering around the house, she kills the Alone in the Dark vibe with a thoroughness that would make Killing Eve's Villanelle green with envy.
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