Ink Review: A Subdued Masterpiece

A movie from 2009 with terrible lighting and a visibly low budget literally made me cry

Ink is not a blockbuster.

And it’s not particularly visually appealing.

But my God, this movie has heart.

If you’ve never heard of Ink, I’d be perfectly unfazed. If you have heard of Ink, I’d be shocked.

Armed with a budget of only $250,000 and the vision of small-time director James Winans, Ink was never destined for the spotlight. Despite this, the film was frequently pirated online at the time, sparking James and Kiowa Winans to write in their newsletter that they had "embraced the piracy" as it led to a larger audience and they were "happy Ink was getting unprecedented exposure."

In a strange way, pirates made this movie a cult classic. And without them, this film may never have reached the public zeitgeist in quite the same way. To which I must bid the pirates a due of unexpected gratitude.

Now that I’m done thanking the criminals of the world for their dastardly deeds, I gotta tell you about what this movie is about. Spoiler alert: it gets pretty crazy.

In this universe, there exist three major groups of beings: the Incubi, the Storytellers, and the humans, blissfully unaware of the other two groups. The Incubi are individual beings who invade the minds of men to give them nightmares and influence them into retaining negative feelings. They are, for all intents and purposes, evil.

The second group, the Storytellers, are the exact opposite. They influence good dreams and attempt to help the person see the good potential in their lives. Their goal is to combat the despair the Incubi have implanted in the mind of that person. They are, for all intents and purposes, good.

Thus, the battle for the mind of man happens between the two forces seemingly every day and night. A war fought not only in mental or spiritual spaces. No, these two forces appear to exist on a plane where they can see our world, but we cannot see them or their world. As such, the Storytellers and the Incubi regularly have physical fights over the person whose mind is at stake.

The main plot of this film starts with one such altercation.

A Storyteller by the name of Allel has been protecting the mind of a young girl when an unknown assailant barges in and overpowers multiple Storytellers, stealing the girl's soul in the process. The following plot revolves around the girl's father, who unknowingly holds the key to the salvation of her soul, the Storytellers attempting to find the stolen girl's soul in the dream world, and the mysterious figure who stole the girl away.

Yep, that's a lot to digest.

Stolen souls and dreamworld people are fighting in people's minds.

To prevent myself from spoiling anything about the ending (which will blow your mind btw), I want to highlight a few reasons you should consider watching this absolute gem of a movie.

Premise.

You will never find another movie like it. Yeah, there are Inception-like movies out there, but this isn’t that. Ink is different. What makes it different is the manner in which the dream world and the Storytellers/Incubi interact with the real world. In many ways, it seems like the only real boundary between the two worlds is perception. The people caught in the crossfire have literally no idea what’s going on right beside them. The Storytellers risk their lives every day for people who will never know they even exist.

Mood.

At this time, I want to extend a trigger warning to everyone who struggles with thoughts of death or self-harm. Hopefully, that warning helps to communicate the seriousness of the journey this film wants to take you on. There are themes and scenes in this film that take you through the moments of someone's life that no one should ever have to go through. Through the film's unique style and choice of visuals, it gets pretty intense at some points. But it's not all sad and somber. There’s plenty of humor and bits to be had throughout. The comedy is hit or miss at times, but the lightheartedness is certainly made clear and oftentimes welcomed.

Style.

I am not going to sit here and act like this is the best style I’ve ever seen in a film before. That would be an absolute lie that’d set you up for failure in expectation. It’s not the best ever, but it’s really good for such a small budget accompanying a film of this ambition. Most people don’t understand how much money goes into the set design of movies they like. It’s an endeavor that costs money, takes time, and requires a whole lot of coordination. Ink didn’t have all of those same creature comforts at its inception. They had to get creative with how they filmed certain locations and make clear distinctions between the dream world, the real world, and flashbacks. The costume and makeup design were also major elements to this film. The outfit and general look of each character are ripe with hidden meaning and significance. Very few things associated with the style of this film are taken for granted. The director knew that he didn’t have the flashiest cameras or optimal equipment to make a movie for the cinema, but he knew that he could do something meaningful. And that’s exactly what he did.

Heart.

I mentioned at the start of all this that this movie had heart.

Everything in this movie was crafted from a place of personal, empathetic, raw emotion. You can see it in the set design, feel it in the direction the actors were told to take their characters, hear it in the soundtrack that director James Winanas personally composed himself, and sense it in the atmosphere as you travel the dream world with the mysterious stranger and his captive. The third act of this film is particularly heartbreaking. As the pieces fall together and the stakes grow higher, you can’t help but feel the weight of what's happening. Please believe me when I tell you that I cried when watching the end of this movie for the first time. It got to me.

All in all…

The premise is unique.

It both intoxicates you with moments of rapturous insanity and sobers you up in the stillness of its authenticity. With style and heart, Ink gracefully subdues the mind and speaks to the souls of those who want to listen. I truly and genuinely believe that if you watch this film with an open mind, you will find something worth the time.

I know I did.

But that’s just me.

Check it out for yourself.