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The Darkness of Day

Name: The Darkness of Day
Director: Jay Rosenblatt
Released: 2009
Duration: 26 min

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Representation Score

8.3/10

Excellent

2009

Director

Jay Rosenblatt

Runtime

26 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Jay Rosenblatt’s documentary shifts focus from traditional hero narratives to the margins of human experience. Through discarded 16mm footage and personal journals, the film creates a lyrical, non-linear meditation on isolation and despair. The film’s strength lies in its global scope and refusal to provide easy moral resolutions. It treats sensitive subjects with a sophisticated, relativistic approach that bypasses institutional hierarchies. While the fragmented nature of the archival footage limits specific identity documentation, the film effectively centers the experiences of those facing profound psychological distress.

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Category Breakdown

Does The Darkness of Day have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film uses found footage, so specific LGBTQ+ identities are not clearly shown. The score provides a neutral backdrop for exploring universal human emotions.

How does The Darkness of Day portray gender?

Fair

The film explores experiences across the gender spectrum, including an elderly couple's shared journey. It avoids traditional gender clichés, focusing on shared human isolation.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Darkness of Day?

Good

The narrative includes international case studies, such as a phenomenon in Japan, providing a global perspective and avoiding a purely Western lens.

How does The Darkness of Day represent religion and culture?

Good

The film prioritizes psychological exploration over religious frameworks, challenging traditional Western views of social order. It frames mental health struggles with compassion.

Does The Darkness of Day include disability representation?

Good

The film deeply explores mental health and neurodivergence. Using personal journals, it treats internal psychological realities as valid subjects rather than mere spectacles.

Present on Screen

The film adopts a global perspective, moving beyond Western-centric views to include international case studies.
It treats mental health and psychological distress with dignity, giving real power to those experiencing internal crises.
The non-linear, lyrical approach avoids didacticism, favoring a compassionate and observational study of human vulnerability.

Limited or Absent

The reliance on found footage means specific LGBTQ+ identities are not explicitly documented or represented.
The fragmented, non-narrative structure may make it difficult for viewers seeking traditional character-driven storytelling.

Official Synopsis

The Darkness of Day is a haunting meditation on suicide. It is comprised entirely of found 16mm footage that had been discarded. The sadness, the isolation, and the desire to escape are recorded on film in various contexts. Voice-over readings from the journal kept by a brother of the filmmaker’s friend who committed suicide in 1990 intermix with a range of compelling stories, from the poignant double suicide of an elderly American couple to a Japanese teenager who jumped into a volcano, spawning over a thousand imitations. While this is a serious exploration of a cultural taboo, its lyrical qualities invite the viewer to approach the subject with understanding and compassion.

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