Within this dull, dreary month of September, against all odds, Netflix has shined a light through again. Granted, there is a reason for that, as this time, it has teamed up with an extremely promising up-and-coming filmmaker and a star-studded cast to deliver a film that feels very tonally similar to last year’s “Wind River,” only with an entirely different take.

“Hold the Dark” is directed by Jeremy Saulnier (“Green Room”) and stars Jeffrey Wright (“Westworld”), Alexander Skarsgard (“Mute”), Riley Keough (“Logan Lucky”) and James Badge Dale (“Only the Brave”). Wright portrays Russell Core, a retired naturalist who heads to Keelut, Alaska, at the behest of Keogh’s character, Medora Sloane, whose husband, Vernon, is serving overseas in the military. Sloane’s son has gone missing, the third one in that area to have been taken by the wolves who linger around the area, and she wants Core not to find her son, but to find the wolf who killed her son and kill it in revenge. Core soon learns that there is something much more sinister, and possibly supernatural, in the air, however.

Saulnier, despite being a relative newcomer to the movie world, has quickly made his mark through his use of heightened tension in certain situations and playing around with audience expectations when it comes to genre. His last film, “Green Room,” demonstrated this in particular, in which a punk band witnesses a murder at a Neo-Nazi bar and is forced to survive the night and escape. His use of the confined setting helped to escalate the sense of dread in the overall air, combined with the fear of the main characters as each one is picked off. It was an interesting character study, as well as a new take on what seemed like a typical film.

Despite having a much larger setting to work with, as well as a clearly larger budget and a very different type of film than the one he is used to, Saulnier still does an absolutely fantastic job with escalating tension to new heights. He makes the audience feel the fear and despair felt by the characters as they each find themselves in their own pockets of isolation within the frozen wasteland. Mix that with some fantastic action sequences and the aura of a Native American ghost story, and one has the recipe for one of the best films of the year.

If there were any problems with this film, it would have to be confusing character motivation. Skarsgard in particular has an extremely well-established plot arc and trajectory throughout the film, but the resolution of his quest leaves a few things up in the air and rather unclear to the casual viewer. Wright’s character also has this subplot with his daughter that is supposed to help strengthen his character in terms of his isolated feeling, but that does not really end up coming into play until the end and just feels kind of thrown in. Keough’s performance at first also seems a little hammy, despite everything making sense once her actions are revealed.

Overall, these are all minor qualms, as the setting exists as a character by itself, again extremely similar to last year’s “Wind River.” That, and the fact that this was a Netflix film meant to be watched within the comfort of one’s home, makes it is easily one of the most cinematic film experiences of 2018. That is right; this is not a movie. This was an experience.

Image from Netflix via YouTube.com.