‘The Dark Horse’ Rises with Performance of Cliff Curtis

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Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – The narrow genre of chess movies (“Searching for Bobby Fischer,” “Pawn Sacrifice”) gets a New Zealand entry, the appropriately titled “The Dark Horse.” The film is a showcase for the performance of Cliff Curtis as the title character, abiding with mental instability and his own redemption.

Cliff Curtis is notable because he takes what could have been a very showy or inert interpretation of mental illness, and brought a particular energy that exposed the trials of the character, based on a true life New Zealand chess champion (nicknamed the “Dark Horse”). He plays the role on the edge of nerve racking, which makes his assignment to bring a rag-tag bunch of ne’er do wells to a state chess tourney less precious, and more goal oriented. The story has both horrifying and charming moments, and oddly they work in tandem, and never clash.

Genesis (Curtis) has just been released from an institution, where he has stabilized a lifelong bipolar disorder. He has nowhere to go, so his biker gang brother Akiri (Wayne Hapi) reluctantly takes him in, and Genesis reacquaints himself with his nephew Mana (James Rolleston). The home life is frayed, and Genesis has to find something to do.

Cliff Curtis as Genesis in ‘The Dark Horse’
Photo credit: Broad Green Pictures

Being a former New Zealand chess champion, he seeks a youth group to teach his craft. The group he finds is mostly indigent children, brought together through the facilitation of Dave (James Napier Robertson, also the director). As Genesis begins to teach both his nephew and the chess club the moves, the goal suddenly is to participate in the state championships in Auckland. The question is, can Genesis get there without relapse?


Although on the surface, this seems like a redemption story, the road to renewal is paved with rough patches. Genesis is only as good as his medicated stability, which goes off the rails a couple times due to his unstable brother and homeless circumstance. That’s what makes the performance of Cliff Curtis so special, he deals with a roulette wheel of physical and emotional reactions, and still seems like a real person. At the core, he plays Genesis as completely vulnerable, which becomes a survival instinct.

There is something about New Zealanders as actors that makes performance instinctual, and director Robertson (who also wrote the screenplay) has a naturalistic approach to the story, with believable elements like a smelly van that brings all the kids to Auckland. Even in the more “kid precious” moments, there is an edge to the narrative, and Robertson never gives in to the temptation to make this a “chess Rocky.”

The supporting cast also adds to this edgy atmosphere. James Rolleston is tough as nails portraying nephew Mena, who knows his uncle would be the ticket out from the biker gang life, but still won’t pridefully relent. Wayne Hapi’s portrayal of Akiri, Genesis’s brother, is so honest that it’s heart-breaking. He makes many decisions in the story, and they all seem to be life and death.

Genesis Advises His Nephew Mana (James Rolleston) in ‘The Dark Horse’
Photo credit: Broad Green Pictures

There is very little fat in the 120 minutes of transitions, but the actual chess tourney is somewhat of a letdown, just because the originality that is in the rest of the film didn’t translate to static scenes of people playing chess. I remember in “Searching for Bobby Fischer,” a lot of the tension came from the father waiting outside the actual gaming room. There wasn’t this type of anticipation built during the chess scenes here, but it’s not really the point. The point is Genesis, through Cliff Curtis, and his struggle.

It has been an interesting run of late with films of mental breakdowns (“Touched by Fire,” “Demolition”). It’s as if the art is becoming more reflective of the world, a crazy place to be in a backward time. We all need our own “genesis,” to get to the other side, like the galloping of The Dark Horse.

By PATRICK McDONALD Writer, Editorial Coordinator HollywoodChicago.com [email protected]