The Mist (film)

The Mist
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Frank Darabont
Written by	Frank Darabont
Based on	The Mist by Stephen King
Produced by	Frank Darabont Martin Shafer Liz Glotzer
Starring	Thomas Jane Marcia Gay Harden Laurie Holden Andre Braugher Toby Jones
Cinematography	Rohn Schmidt
Edited by	Hunter M. Via
Music by	Mark Isham
Production company	Darkwoods Productions
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Dimension Films
Release date	November 21, 2007 (2007-11-21)
Running time	126 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$18 million
Box office	$57.3 million

The Mist (also known as Stephen King's The Mist) is a 2007 American cosmic horror film directed, written, and co-produced by Frank Darabont. Based on the 1980 novella of the same name by Stephen King, the film stars an ensemble cast of Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher and Toby Jones.

The plot follows a group of people in the small town of Bridgton, Maine, who become trapped inside a supermarket after a mysterious mist envelops the town, concealing deadly, Lovecraftian creatures. As fear and paranoia spread, tensions rise among the survivors. While the film is primarily a monster movie, it explores how ordinary people react under extreme circumstances. Darabont notably altered the novella's ending, a change that King supported.

The Mist was filmed in Shreveport, Louisiana, beginning in February 2007, and was released on November 21, 2007. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed over $57 million.

Plot

A severe thunderstorm strikes Bridgton, Maine, causing a tree to crash through the lakeside home of artist David Drayton, his wife Stephanie, and their eight-year-old son, Billy. The next morning, David, Billy, and their neighbor Brent Norton head to town for supplies, unaware that a mysterious mist is descending on the area. Along the way, they pass several military convoys.

Once inside the supermarket, the mist envelops the town, trapping everyone inside. Dan Miller, a local resident, bursts into the store, warning of unseen dangers in the mist. Soon after, bagger Norm attempts to fix the store's generator but is attacked by a tentacled creature. The survivors begin barricading the store while religious fanatic Mrs. Carmody preaches that the mist is divine punishment. Brent, skeptical of the danger, leaves the store with a group of people, never to return.

David and a few others, including teachers Amanda Dunfrey and Irene Reppler, try to maintain order. However, chaos ensues when giant flying insects and pterodactyl-like creatures break through the windows, killing several people. Mrs. Carmody narrowly survives the insect attack while praying. As a result, she gains more followers, capitalizing on the fear and despair among the survivors.

A group led by David ventures to a nearby pharmacy in search of medical supplies but is attacked by deadly spider-like creatures. Upon their return, tensions rise as Mrs. Carmody calls for sacrifices to appease the monsters, singling out a soldier named Jessup, who reveals that the mist was the result of a military experiment to find other worlds gone wrong. He is thrown outside and immediately killed by a monstrous creature.

The next morning, as Mrs. Carmody demands Billy be sacrificed, assistant manager Ollie shoots and kills her, allowing David and his group to escape the store. After Ollie is killed by a creature, the others grab his gun and drive off. The group stop by David's house, where they see Stephanie's dead body. As they continue their drive through the mist, they pass scenes of widespread destruction and come across a colossal creature before eventually running out of gas. With no hope left, David mercy-kills the group with the last four bullets, including Billy. As David steps out of the vehicle, screaming for the monsters to come and kill him, the mist begins to clear, revealing the arrival of the U.S. Army, who are exterminating the creatures, rescuing survivors, and had only been mere seconds behind them. Realizing his actions were in vain, a distraught David collapses, screaming in anguish.

Cast

• Thomas Jane as David Drayton, a painter who ends up trapped in the supermarket with his son Billy
• Marcia Gay Harden as Mrs. Carmody, a religious fanatic who believes the mist to be the wrath of God
• Laurie Holden as Amanda Dunfrey, a new teacher at the local school. She carries a Colt revolver with her at all times
• Andre Braugher as Brent Norton, a big-city attorney and David's neighbor
• Toby Jones as Ollie Weeks, the supermarket's assistant manager, who is experienced with guns
• William Sadler as Jim Grondin, a belligerent and weak-minded mechanic
• Jeffrey DeMunn as Dan Miller, who takes shelter in the market after witnessing the dangers from the mist
• Frances Sternhagen as Irene Reppler, an elderly teacher and Amanda's co-worker
• Sam Witwer as Private Wayne Jessup, a soldier stationed at the nearby Arrowhead military base
• Alexa Davalos as Sally, a cashier at the supermarket and Billy's babysitter
• Nathan Gamble as Billy Drayton, David's eight-year-old son
• Chris Owen as Norm, a bag boy
• Robert Treveiler as Bud Brown, the supermarket's manager
• David Jensen as Myron LaFleur, a mechanic who works with Jim
• Melissa McBride as an unnamed woman who left her kids alone at home
• Andy Stahl as Mike Hatlen, a supermarket patron who sides with David's group
• Buck Taylor as Ambrose Cornell, a supermarket patron who sides with David's group
• Juan Gabriel Pareja as Morales, a soldier from Arrowhead base
• Walter Fauntleroy as Donaldson, a soldier from Arrowhead base
• Brandon O'Dell as Bobby Eagleton, a supermarket patron who sides with David's group
• Jackson Hurst as Joe Eagleton, Bobby's brother
• Susan Watkins as Hattie Turman, a local real estate agent
• Mathew Greer as Silas, a supermarket patron who sides with Brent's group
• Kelly Collins Lintz as Stephanie Drayton, David's wife and Billy's mother
• Ron Clinton Smith as Mr. Mackey, the supermarket's butcher
• Amin Joseph as a military police officer
• Brian Libby as Biker
• Gregg Brazzel as Tom Smalley
• Ginnie Randall as Tess
• Tiffany Morgan as Denise
• Sonny Franks as Man with Car

Production

Development

Director Frank Darabont first encountered Stephen King's novella The Mist in the 1980 anthology Dark Forces and was immediately interested in adapting it into a film. Originally, Darabont considered The Mist for his directorial debut, but instead chose to adapt another of King's works, The Shawshank Redemption (1994), which went on to become a major critical success. After completing The Shawshank Redemption, Darabont reiterated his interest in The Mist in 1994, but chose to direct The Green Mile (1999), another King adaptation, before revisiting The Mist.

Darabont eventually secured the film rights to The Mist from King, and the project was initially developed with Paramount Pictures. However, after writing the screenplay, Darabont shifted the project to Dimension Films by 2006. Actor Thomas Jane was brought into early negotiations to star in the film, which would eventually begin production in early 2007.

Writing

"The story is less about the monsters outside than about the monsters inside, the people you're stuck with, your friends and neighbors breaking under the strain."

— Darabont on The Mist

Director Frank Darabont chose to film The Mist after completing "straighter dramas" like The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and The Green Mile (1999) because he wanted to create a "very direct, muscular" film. Darabont devised a new, darker ending for the film, which Stephen King praised for its boldness. King acknowledged that Darabont's ending was a stark departure from more conventional, feel-good conclusions often expected by studios, remarking, "The ending is such a jolt—wham! It's frightening. But people who go to see a horror movie don't necessarily want to be sent out with a Pollyanna ending."

Darabont viewed The Mist as a throwback to classic storytelling, referencing writers like Paddy Chayefsky and comparing the film's themes to Lord of the Flies, where fear drives people to behave primitively. He emphasized the film’s exploration of human behavior under duress, explaining that it was about "people at each other" more than the monsters themselves. Darabont also cited influences such as The Twilight Zone episode "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" and Alfred Hitchcock’s Lifeboat (1944).

In adapting the novella, Darabont altered some character dynamics. For instance, the novella includes a brief extramarital affair between the characters David Drayton and Amanda Dumfries, but Darabont chose to instead create a more emotional, surrogate family dynamic between them in the film. Thomas Jane, who played David, noted that his character and Amanda (Laurie Holden) become a "little unit" in the face of the horrors they endure together, a relationship Holden compared to the bonds formed by survivors at the Louisiana Superdome during Hurricane Katrina.

The film also elaborates on the origins of the mist, which is left vague in the novella. Darabont introduced an explanation involving the Arrowhead Project, a military experiment that opened portals to other dimensions. Though Darabont wrote an unfilmed opening scene depicting a malfunction at the project’s lab, the film still provides more context about the mist's origins than King's original story.

Production

In December 2006, Thomas Jane finalized his role in The Mist, joining the cast as the protagonist David Drayton. By January 2007, additional actors such as Andre Braugher and Laurie Holden were also confirmed for key roles. Filming began in February 2007 at StageWorks of Louisiana in Shreveport, Louisiana, marking the start of the production. Later that month, Marcia Gay Harden and Toby Jones joined the ensemble cast.

Veteran actors William Sadler, Jeffrey DeMunn, and Brian Libby, all of whom had previously worked with director Frank Darabont on The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and The Green Mile (1999), were cast in supporting roles. Interestingly, Sadler had voiced the character of David Drayton in a 1986 audiobook version of The Mist. Darabont initially wanted Stephen King to appear in a supporting role, but King declined the offer.

Darabont sought a "fluid, ragged documentary" style for the film, drawing inspiration from his experience directing The Shield. To achieve this, he enlisted the same camera crew to bring a gritty, realistic feel to the movie. Although Darabont considered shooting The Mist digitally, he ultimately chose to film on 400 ASA Fujifilm to give it a grainy texture, adding to the atmospheric tension.

Notably, the film includes a nod to King’s The Dark Tower series, with David Drayton seen painting an image based on the books in the opening scene. This artwork was created by renowned poster designer Drew Struzan, whose work also appears in the form of posters for films like The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.

Darabont worked closely with the production design team to blend multiple eras within the film’s aesthetic, avoiding an overtly modern or period-specific feel. This mix is evident in details like characters using cell phones, while military personnel are shown driving older Jeeps instead of modern Humvees. The setting of the small-town supermarket was filmed in Vivian, Louisiana, while the fire trucks in the early scenes were from the local Caddo Parish fire department, adding a distinct local flavor to the film.

Around 100 extras from the Shreveport area were used, with 60 of them intricately interwoven into scenes with the main cast to create a more immersive, populated environment. Local Louisiana brands, such as Zapp's potato chips, were featured as part of the film's effort to ground its setting in a recognizable location.

Music

Darabont chose to use music to minimal effect in The Mist to capture the "heavier feel" of the darker ending he had written to replace the one from the novella. The director explained, "Sometimes movie music feels false. I've always felt that silent can be scarier than loud, a whisper more frightening than a bang, and we wanted to create a balance. We kept music to a minimum to keep that vérité, documentary feel." Darabont chose to overlay the song "Host of Seraphim" by the band Dead Can Dance, a spiritual piece characterized by wailing and chanting. As a fan of Dead Can Dance, Darabont thought that the song played "as a requiem mass for the human race." The original score was composed by Academy Award-nominated composer Mark Isham.

Effects

Darabont hired artists Jordu Schell and Bernie Wrightson to assist in designing the creatures for the film. Greg Nicotero worked on the film's creature design and make-up effects, while Everett Burrell served as the visual effects supervisor. Nicotero initially sketched out ideas for creature design when Darabont originally expressed interest in filming The Mist in the 1980s. When the project was greenlit, Nicotero, Burrell, and Darabont collaborated on the creature design at round-table meetings at CaféFX. The studio for visual effects had been recommended to Darabont by Guillermo del Toro after Darabont asked the director who created the visual effects for Pan's Labyrinth.

Because the creatures were described in only a few sentences in the novella, Darabont sought to create new designs, but specifically designs which felt unique. Nicotero, who was versed in film and genre history, reviewed past creature designs to avoid duplicating earlier screen monsters. When the designs were completed, Nicotero and Burrell educated the cast on the appearance of the creatures by showing them puppets and the function of their eyes and mouths. The puppet demonstrations served as reference points for the cast, who had to respond to motion-capture dots during filming.

Release

The Mist was screened at the film festival ShowEast on October 18, 2007, at which Darabont received the Kodak Award for Excellence in Filmmaking for his previous works The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.

Home media

The Mist was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 25, 2008. Lionsgate Home Entertainment later released the film on Ultra HD Blu-ray on October 3, 2023. The DVD and Blu-ray Special Editions also included Darabont's black and white version of the film, which fans believe to be a superior version.

Reception

Box office

The Mist was commercially released in the United States and Canada on November 21, 2007. Over its opening weekend, the film grossed $8,931,973 across both regions. By August 9, 2009, the film had grossed $25,593,755 in the United States and Canada, with an additional $27,560,960 from international markets, bringing its worldwide total to $57,289,103.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, The Mist holds a 71% approval rating based on 147 reviews, with an average score of 6.60/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Frank Darabont's impressive camerawork and politically incisive script make The Mist a truly frightening experience." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 58/100 based on 29 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews." CinemaScore audiences, however, gave it a less favorable "C" rating, on a scale of A to F.

Critics were divided in their assessments. James Berardinelli praised the film, calling it "dark, tense, and punctuated by just enough gore," adding that it finally did justice to a Stephen King horror adaptation. He described it as a "must-see" for fans of the genre. Michael Phillips from the Chicago Tribune echoed this sentiment, labeling it "good and creepy," while Lisa Schwarzbaum from Entertainment Weekly commended Harden's performance as Mrs. Carmody, calling it "brilliant."

In contrast, Roger Ebert gave the film a more lukewarm review, rating it 2 stars out of 4. He noted that while it was a "competently made Horrible Things Pouncing on People movie," it didn't live up to Darabont's past works like The Shawshank Redemption or The Green Mile. Justin Chang of Variety also had mixed feelings, stating that while The Mist worked as a "gross-out B-movie," it fell short in its psychological depth due to "one-note characterizations" and an inconsistent tone.

Despite these criticisms, the film has been retrospectively appreciated by some, with Tom Ambrose of Empire calling it "criminally overlooked" and one of the best horror films of recent years.

Accolades

Bloody Disgusting ranked the film #4 on their list of the "Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade", with the article saying: "The scary stuff works extremely well, but what really drives this one home is Darabont's focus on the divide that forms between two factions of the townspeople—the paranoid, Bible-thumping types and the more rational-minded, decidedly left-wing members of the populace. This allegorical microcosm of G. W. Bush-era America is spot on, and elevates an already-excellent film to even greater heights."

At the 34th Saturn Awards, The Mist received nominations for Best Horror Film and Best Director (Darabont), with Harden winning Best Supporting Actress.

TV series

Main article: The Mist (TV series)

In November 2013, Bob Weinstein revealed that Darabont and he were developing a 10-part television series based on the film. In February 2016, Spike picked up the pilot. In April 2016, Spike ordered the series, and Adam Bernstein directed the pilot, which premiered on June 22, 2017.

See also

• The Fog (novel), a 1975 novel by James Herbert

External links

• The Mist at IMDb 
• The Mist at Box Office Mojo
• "Monsters in the Mist". MonsterLegacy.net. September 9, 2015.