Death, My Darling

Death, My Darling is the debut feature film from Jarrod Van Hauen. Released April 30th, 2021, this was the first film to be released by Live Free in it's year and serves as a structural introduction for a full length narrative of Jarrod Van Hauen. It was written by Mike Barkhoff, who also starred in the film, edited it, and recorded the soundtrack.

Plot
A complacent attention addict turns to practicing satanic praying after seeing it suggested on the internet. The next day, upon waking up, he sees a series of knives in the shape of a pentagram.

After trying to reach out to who just suggested he practice satanism via email, and not receiving an answer, he looks into the possibilities that could happen. This convinces him to lock up all of the knives using a drawer and string.

Odd occurrences continue to happen, like him almost slipping on a action figures head molding, a cross necklace he has appearing upside down, and him almost slipping on water that leaked from his shower faucet on the concrete basement floor.

One night, he wakes up to be attacked by a devil figure. After this, he becomes irritated but also falls into a pattern of trying to stay up and refrain from sleeping, worried about what could happen. This causes him to become mentally unstable, even calling into work due to the oddities. He tries performing a reverse seyance to no avail, and is then visited by the sound of a visitor, who he tries to make fade away using the cross necklace.

He spirals out of control and eventually decides to kill himself. He writes a note and suffocates himself using a plastic bag. He awakens in an alternate world where everything is the same but he's stuck in the same position of the basement. The lights go dim, and he finds himself writing a devil via notebook paper where his suicide note once was.

He learns via the demon that he can fight his punishment to hell in a court of a law esque setting, but before this occurs, the lights go up and he sees a figure off-screen, the figure gives him a monologue, explaining that he belongs in hell due to his bloodline. At the end of the monologue, the devil figures reveals himself as his dad, who died a year prior, and states: "Welcome home."

As the credits play, we hear "Help!".

Cast
Mike Barkhoff as Protagonist

Liam Jeffries as Devil [Voiceover]

Ron Gomes as Self [Archive]

Production
Mike Barkhoff wrote, starred in, and edited the film. He was inspired after rewatching the Final Destination films, but also initially wanted it to be set in Hell and face a Good Man trying to fight his way out of Hell in a trial like scenario.

The concept changed, and so did the duo's intents on the film. It was filmed in February 2021, and at the end of each day, Barkhoff would send Van Hauen dailies - clips from the film accomplished through the day - to okay them.

Analysis
Many viewers have suggested the film is an outlook on the internet and how it effects us. They have pointed to how it began the whole narrative and also to how after awhile the main character doesn't use the internet, rather turning to paper towards the third act of the film. The implication is that you become your most free without the internet.

Another suggestion is that the film, which is dedicated to "anyone going through the same shit", is about depression and mourning. Notably, the memory loss that comes with both of those.

After the film released, Barkhoff openly admitted his favorite aspect was the amount of "layers" they featured in the film. He confirmed the film's dedication was due to "depression and those feeling lost", but didn't speak anymore on the film's actual meaning.

Reception
Death, My Darling received positive reviews from it's audience. On it's opening night, a Live Chat during premiere was very active, and saw Barkhoff replying to many. Many of the comments were positive.

The film holds 0 dislikes on YouTube, and bares a 8.7/10 on IMDb from close to 20 ratings.

Some critics, on the flip side, concerned the concept as "lazy" and "effortless".

Van Hauen, having not seen the film edited at all until the end (only having seen dailies), said he loved it. Ron Gomes, upon his early watch, called it a "beautiful art film". Pokey Spears also watched it early and also gave it a positive reaction, claiming it "badass" for maintaining one setting for a majority of the film and congratulating Barkhoff on the soundtrack.