“Brave the Dark” An Emotional True Story That Has To Be Seen
- Matt Palmer
- Feb 25
- 2 min read
The Dietrich Theater will be having a special free screening of the film “Brave the Dark” on Wednesday February 25 (today) at 6 pm. Since this film is based on a true story and the trailers looked really great, I wanted to check this film out.
When Mr. Deen discovers one of his students has been living out of his car and thrown into jail, he decides to bail him out. Determined to curb Nate’s self-destructive behavior, Mr. Deen quickly discovers a host of dark secrets that are slowly tearing Nate apart.
What started as a good deed becomes a desperate fight to save Nate from his own demons. As Nate spirals deeper into despair, Mr. Deen must decide how far he’s willing to go to save a kid on the brink of losing everything - even himself.
For those who may not know, “Brave the Dark” is based on the true life story of Nathaniel Deen (formerly Nate Busko) and his relationship with his high school drama teacher, Stan Deen. After becoming a father figure to Nate, Stan Deen passed away in 2016. Today, Nate is a filmmaker and an advocate, and he co-wrote this film to honor Stan’s impact on his life.
The film “Brave the Dark” is a truly moving and inspirational true story drama. While it can be rather emotional at times, it’s also a feel-good film that doesn’t hold back on the dark, traumatic reality of the teen’s life.
This inspiring true story also highlights the transformative power of mentorship and compassion. The overall story of a teacher helping a very troubled student is a very powerful story of love and dedication (which can also be tear-jerking in a few scenes). The acting from both Jared Harris and Nicholas Hamilton (Stan Deen and Nate Deen, respectively) is a major strength of this film and their incredible, strong performances bring a lot of depth to the characters.
Rather than high-octane scenes, “Brave the Dark” delivers quite a few emotional, character-driven moments that shows how moving this true story actually was. There’s a pivotal scene where Nate becomes frustrated by Stan’s persistence in helping him, where Nate just lashes out and says: “Why do you care when I don’t care?” This moment is probably one of the most gut-wrenching scenes in the film.
Another gut-wrenching sequence is where we finally uncover Nate’s immense childhood trauma in several flashbacks that will really have you shedding a tear for sure. The closing of the film also features photos of the actual Nathaniel Deen and Stan Deen, which adds a poignant, real-world weight to the story.
“Brave the Dark” is a heartfelt, low-key indie drama that’s based on an incredible true story. It’s a touching, yet conventional, story of mentorship that also relies on the strong acting from Harris and Hamilton to help deliver its message about overcoming personal darkness through human connection.
MPA: Rated PG-13 for domestic violence.bloody images, suicide, some strong language, teen drinking, drug material and smoking (runtime 112 minutes)
Streaming services: You can currently rent “Brave the Dark” at various PVOD services
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