Brave the Dark is a 2023 drama based on a true story about a 1980’s small-town high school teacher, Stan Deen. Mr. Deen gets drawn towards one of his students, Nathan Williams, when the boy gets arrested outside of his classroom. Determined to know more about Nate, he bails Nate out of jail and takes him in. Mr. Deen believes that no student is a lost cause and discovers the impact he can have on another life.
At 6 years old, Nathan witnessed the horrific and brutal death of his parents in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. After his parents’ passing, he lived with his grandparents before they placed him in 4 different foster homes, where he then ended up living alone in his car for two years. He ends up joining the track team just so he could shower. In the beginning of the movie, Nate and his friends rob a local store, planning to make money selling the goods. A few days later, Nate is arrested at school. Mr. Deen bails him out of jail, determined to learn more about this boy and his past. After bail, Nate was taken into custody by his grandparents who are cold-hearted and don’t care about his well-being. Mr. Deen made an attempt to gain custody of Nate from his grandparents and get him back into school. After a successful attempt to take Nate into his own home, he is brought back into school and given a second chance.
With Nate’s new opportunity to turn his life around, he manages to continue getting himself into trouble, risking being expelled from school and getting put back in prison. Mr. Deen convinces Nate that the best way to stay out of prison is to go back to school and graduate. The trouble Nate got into was frequently due to the fact that he blamed himself for the death of his parents. This caused Nate to be a loose cannon with his anger, especially when he would see his ex-girlfriend Tina interacting with other guys, sometimes his own friends. Nate would quickly get aggressive with the boys Tina would be interacting with and became hostile towards the environment, nearly getting him expelled. Assault is a good way to get kicked out of school and placed in prison. Unfortunately, whenever Mr. Deen would try to talk to Nate about correcting his behavior, Nate would flare up and attempt to justify his actions by saying it’s just the way he is.
Nate eventually shares his life story with Mr. Deen. As a 6-year-old boy, Nate witnessed his father murder his mother before taking his own life. He had never shared his story with anyone because his grandparents told him he had to make up a story that wasn’t true about his parents in order to discourage people from believing that Nate would be like his father. Although this didn’t excuse his behavior and actions, it helped Mr. Deen have an understanding of Nate’s past and the trauma he’s dealt with.
Brave the Dark was given a 4.6 rating by 103 people on Rotten Tomatoes and has a wide variety of reviews. I think the rating is accurate because the movie was based on a true story, which I feel added more emotion. The emotion this movie presented had a moving impact on the hearts of most viewers. I will admit, I did shed a few tears. Everyone should watch this movie because we need more caring people like Mr. Deen in the world. Brave the Dark was an amazing film that will inspire viewers to be a Mr. Deen in someone else’s life.
