The Mist: An Analysis

"The Mist," touches on themes of primeval human emotions, the struggles of man in the dark, and of primordial Gods. There are several scenes involving David Drayton (Thomas Jane) and his group of light/sun worshippers versus Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden) the leader of a blood/death cult. All the while feelings of self-preservation, blood-lust, and the gift of new life through children are shown on screen. As well, several subliminal messages including the ability of science to open a portal to the underworld are part of the film.


Ancient cultures would often worship the Sun as a God and the absence of the sun would often create themes of imprisonment, exile, and death. In fact the grocery store that is central to the film acts as a type of prison as the survivors hold out in hopes that the mist will dissipate. Throughout "The Mist," there are several characters who become sacrifices to the Gods of the underworld whether willingly or unwillingly. Two military officers hang themselves in the storeroom and the implication is that they hung themselves; however after the creation of Mrs. Camody's death cult it is likely that these two officers were sacrifices, by the death cult to the monsters outside of the store. The killing of the third officer in cold-blood is another sacrifice to the underworld. In ancient times it was common for Mayan and Aztec kingdoms to offer sacrifices to the Gods during drought, eclipses, and natural disasters. Many of the characters in this story seem to revert to an earlier, more primitive self in hopes of saving themselves from the creatures outside.



As the fog lingers several factions develop inside the store with David Draydon leading a half dozen survivors who seek to reunite with the sun while Mrs. Carmody creates a larger group, over time of religious zealouts who give into the forces of the underworld and a smaller group of non-believers or deniers led by Brent Norton (Andre Braugher). Mrs. Carmody, as the religious leader demoralizes any possible unity of the groups by preaching religious jargon. In effect, Mrs. Carmody is surrendering to the forces from the underworld and the present situation and by preventing others, especially David Drayton's group who seek a reunion with the Sun/light; she basically allows the forces of the underworld and death to take over. One scene where Mrs. Carmody allows one of the beasts from the other world to crawl over her body shows that this character would rather allow the forces of death, or the underworld take over than fight or escape.

Often during "The Mist," the military is shown to be responsible for opening a door into another dimension, which is actually a portal to the other side or the underworld of mythology. Writer Stephen King incorporates an ancient belief in a dystopic other world where new souls go after parting from their earthly form throughout "The Mist." In almost every culture from Babylonia to the Celts the underworld is often seen as hellish in nature, and the beasts in the film come from this hellish reality. Once a dimension to hell comes to completion the demons are free to roam and terrorize the characters in the film. It is only near the end of the film where several more sacrifices are made to the Sun God that the military is able to close the portal to the other side and allow for denouement in the end of the film.



As with most horror films "The Mist," taps into human fears and creates impossible situations to provoke an emotional reaction. The primitive and primary emotions of; fear, survival, and hatred are shown in the characters in order to arouse similar feelings in the viewer. In addition, the use of ancient myths like the appearance and then disappearance of the Sun God along with the archetypes of the hero (David Drayton) and the witch (Mrs. Camody) making their appearance in "The Mist," this film is more like an ancient fable told from generation to generation rather than an ordinary horror picture. Finally, the creation of one the most vile villains in recent movie making history, in the form of Mrs. Carmody means that "The Mist," will create a strong division between those who love this film and others who detest the picture. Enjoyable on several levels "The Mist," provides enough material to delve more deeply into the primal motivations of human survival and fear of the unknown in what at first appears a regular horror picture.


Sources

A List of Underworld Gods at Wiki

Solar Gods at Wiki

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