[8]

Frank Darabont dives back into the Stephen King well and comes out with a winner. The Mist is about a disparate group of people who end up trapped together in the local grocery store when a strange, scary mist suddenly engulfs the town. Anyone who travels out into the mist is killed by mysterious, unseen creatures. In addition to the apocalyptic angle, you can also count on King to start brewing up some evil on the inside. Marcia Gay Harden becomes the enemy within, playing a religious zealot whose fear-baiting begins to create a civil war during the supernatural siege. Some of the creatures are underwhelming when you finally get a good look at them, but I love how The Mist builds and unfolds inside the store environment, and I also love the ultra-bleak final act. It varies from the source material, but King himself is on record saying he prefers it. With Thomas Jane, Laurie Holden (The X-Files), Toby Jones, William Sadler, Frances Sternhagen, and Chris Owen.