The Mist is a 2007 horror film directed by Frank Darabont, based on Stephen King’s novella of the same name. It follows artist David Drayton, his young son Billy, and a group of townspeople trapped in a supermarket in Bridgton, Maine, as a strange mist rolls in, hiding deadly creatures from another dimensionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mist_(film).
The mist arrives suddenly after a violent storm, caused by a secret military experiment called Project Arrowhead that rips open a portal to another world, letting in Lovecraftian monsters like tentacled beasts and giant insectshttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm1663640/news/https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/how-the-mist-predicted-frank-darabont-directing-stranger-things-5-episodes. Inside the store, fear turns people against each other. Skeptical lawyer Brent Norton leaves with a group and vanishes into the mist. Religious fanatic Mrs. Carmody gains followers by calling the mist God’s punishment, demanding sacrifices like David’s son Billyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mist_(film).
Tensions explode when assistant manager Ollie kills Mrs. Carmody to stop her. David, Billy, and a few survivors like Amanda and Irene flee in David’s Jeep. They pass wrecked cars, dead bodies, and a massive walking creature, then stop at David’s house to find his wife Stephanie torn apart by monstershttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm1663640/news/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mist_(film). Low on gas deep in the mist, with creatures closing in, David has just four bullets left in his pistol. To spare them a worse death, he shoots Billy last, then his friends, and walks out screaming for the monsters to take him toohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TEdMfHw6jY.
Seconds later, the mist clears. U.S. Army tanks roll in, spraying the creatures with flames and cleaning up the invasion. David sees the woman who left the store alone at the start, safe and hugging her kids. He drops to his knees in horror, realizing they could have waited just a bit longer for rescuehttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm1663640/news/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mist_(film)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TEdMfHw6jY.
This ending is Darabont’s invention, darker than King’s book, where David drives on with a sliver of hope instead of killing everyone. King approved it, saying it fit the story’s despair. The four bullets create a cruel irony, like fate forcing the tragedy no matter what choices David madehttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm1663640/news/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S05dXXZQJLY. It shows how panic and bad decisions destroy people faster than the monsters. Everyday tensions, like arguments and doubts, boil over in crisis, proving humans can be the real horrorhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TEdMfHw6jY.
Mrs. Carmody’s rants about divine wrath feel eerily right in the end, as the mist lifts right after the shootings, hinting at some cosmic punishment. David’s every move, from staying in the store to driving into thicker mist, worsens their odds, underlining that rushing to act in fear leads to ruinhttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm1663640/news/.
Sources
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1663640/news/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mist_(film)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TEdMfHw6jY
https://www.avclub.com/the-mist-ends-its-first-season-with-incest-death-and-1798409054
https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wir
