Faith-based End Times series 'The Dark' presents parallels to COVID-19 pandemic
The gritty End Times series “The Dark” presents striking — and unexpected — parallels to the uncertainty, fear, and loneliness prevalent amid the COVID-19 pandemic, actor Kevin Sizemore has said.
Now streaming on Pure Flix and other streaming services, “The Dark” is an action-packed thriller miniseries set in the seventh year of the Tribulation.
The world is in ruins, and the United States is mired in chaos with no rule of law. Electricity and medicine are little more than a distant memory. Food is scant. Christianity has all but disappeared except for small bands of believers struggling to survive while waiting for the Second Coming.
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Pastor Peter Braxton (Sizemore) is one of the remaining Christians. He and the surviving members of his congregation find shelter in a church as they try to fight off “The Dark” — an unknown, evil force determined to destroy the world. Braxton, along with a few other brave Christians, embark on a dangerous quest to find his abducted son and other lost members of his congregation.
Along the way, the group encounters dark forces and chilling unknowns that force them to rely on their inner strength and divine guidance.
From director Chip Rossetti, “The Dark” begs the question: What would it be like if you were one of the few Christians left in the End Times?
In an interview with The Christian Post, Sizemore, who has also starred in the faith-based hits “The Case for Christ” and “Woodlawn,” described “The Dark” as “unique, gritty, dirty, and raw.”
“I love the grittiness of Peter Braxton,” he said. “At first, he has everything. He has a great wife, a beautiful child, he has a perfect life running this church. ... And then it's all taken away from him, just like that. He loses a lot of his faith, he loses everything.”
Now a “shell of a man,” Braxton is struggling to “figure out what life is supposed to be like without his family and without his congregation,” Sizemore said.
The parallels between “The Dark” and the COVID-19 pandemic are undeniable, though unintentional. Sizemore revealed that neither he nor Rossetti predicted just how relevant the series would be.
Throughout the course of the first episode, it becomes clear that the Christians aren’t fighting against a visible force, but an unseen enemy.
“At the beginning of the episode, people don't know what ‘The Dark’ is,” Sizemore said. “You quickly realize the dark is the bad dude. He's the guy who's trying to take over the world.”
“Well, when you equate that to what we're going through today … you have this virus that's floating around,” he added. “Whether you love wearing a mask or not, I would hate to get you infected. If I had something I would just hate to give it to someone, even if I didn't know I had something. So I'm going to do what I can just to try to protect you.”
To avoid “The Dark,” Christians are also forced to stay secluded in the series, paralleling COVID-19 lockdowns.
“There's a scene with my wife and my son having dinner. And my son says, ‘Daddy, why do I have to have all my homework done in the basement?”’ Sizemore shared. “It’s because we have to stay secluded, which is a perfect analogy of what's happening today with our kids. It's sad."
Watch Kevin Sizemore discuss "The Dark" with The Christian Post
Though there is some “biblical talk” in “The Dark,” it’s intentionally not “heavy-handed,” the actor said.
“I think that's the best way to attract people,” he said. “If you put a project out there that's just a good project that has faith lined in it, then allow the secular audience or any audience to watch it and get their own perspective.”
“Show me, don’t tell me,” he added, "because when you tell me and you force it, you're taking away the audience's appetite to be able to think for themselves.”
Though he wants “The Dark” to first and foremost entertain audiences — particularly at a time when people need a reprieve from the stressors stemming from COVID-19 — Sizemore also hopes the series sparks conversations, both among Christian and secular audiences.
“I hope people talk about how unique and different it is,” Sizemore said. “It’s not a cookie-cutter, beautiful miniseries. It's really about a handful of leaders that are going out into the depths of Hell, so to speak, to try to find out the truth. They're trying to find out why they're here, what's going on, and why.”
“The Dark” is now streaming on Pure Flix and other streaming services.
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